ISLAND  NIGHTS' 
ENTERTAINMENTS 

CONSISTING  OF 

THE  BEACH   OF  FALESX 
THE  BOTTLE   IMP 

THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

BY 

ROBERT    LOUIS    STEVENSON 


IVITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY 

GORDON   BROWN.^i^^^^W.  HATHERELL 
^^     OF  THE  ^>^ 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 

NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1904 


« 


COPYKIGHT,   1892,  1893,  BY 

ROBERT  LOUIS  STEVENSOS 


TROW  DIRECTORY  "^ 
PRINTING  AND   BOOKBINDING  COMPANV 
NEW  YORK 


TO 

THOSE  OLD   SHIPMATES   AMONG  THE   ISLANDS 

HARRY  HENDERSON 
BEX   HIRD 
JACK  BUCKLAND 

THEIR  FRIEND 

R.  L.  S. 


oo]srTE]srTS 

THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA  :  BEING  THE  NARRATIVE 
OF  A  SOUTH-SEA  TRADER 

PAGE 

Chapter  I.     A  South  Sea  Bkidal,  ...  1 

Chapter  II.     The  Ban, 23 

Chapter  III.     The  Missionary,        ...  57 
Chapter  IV.     Devil-work,        .        .        .        .67 

Chapter  V.     Night  in  the  Bush,     .        .  105 

THE   BOTTLE   IMP, 127 

THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES, 183 


LIST  or  ILLUSTKATIOI^^S 

THE    BEACH   OF   FALESA 
Uma, Frontispiece 

PAGB 

Sketch  Map, 1 

Uma   showed  the   Best    Bearing   for   a  Bride 

Conceivable, 16 

"  What  DOES  FussY-ocKY  Mean  ?"  .        ...      30 

"Have  You  had  Enough?"  cried  I,     .        .        .58 

*'I'm  no  Missionary,  nor  Missionary  Lover,"    .      60 

I  kept  Posting  Him   up   on   Master   Case   and 

THE  Beach  of  Falesa, 66 

"Will  You  know  what  was  in  His   Heart?" 

cried  He, 74 

Looking   round  the   Corner   I   saw  a  Shining 

Face, 96 

We  Each  Wheeled  Round  and  Stood  Face  to 

Face, 98 


viii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The  Winchester  cracked  again,  and  Down  She 

WENT, 118 

THE   BOTTLE  IMP 

"This  is  the  Bottle,"  said  the  Man,   .        .        .  132 

"  Let  Us  have  One  Look  at  You,  Mr.  Imp,"      .  146 

"I  thought  I  knew  every  One  in  this  Country,"  148 

Keawe  of  the  Bright  House  is  out  of  Spirits,  156 

The  Young  Man  fell  upon  His  Knees,    "For 

God's  Sake  Buy  It  ! "  He  cried,      .        .        .     160 

There,  under  the  Bananas,  lay  Keawe,  His 
Mouth  in  the  Dust,  and  as  He  lay  He 
Moaned, 168 

There  was  Kokua  on  the  Floor,  the  Lamp  at 
Her  Side  ;  before  Her  was  a  Milk-white 
Bottle,  with  a  Round  Belly  and  a  Long 
Neck, 176 

So  off  He  went  down  the  Avenue  toward  Town, 
and  there  goes  the  Bottle  out  of  the 
Story, 180 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  ix 

THE   ISLE   OF   VOICES 

PAGE 

♦'While  He  was  so  Thinking,   there  was  His 

Father-in-law  behind  Him,  Looking  Vexed,"     188 

"The  Herbs  Caught  Strongly  Afire,  and  the 

Flames  beat  upon  Keola,"      ....     190 

"  '  Back  1  *  cried  Keola,  '  Back  !  the  Leaves  are 

near  Done,'  " 192 

"  There  He  was  Striding  and  Dwindling,  and 
He  held  the  Lamp  high  over  His  Head, 
and  the  Waves  broke  White  about  Him  as 
He  Went,"   .        . 200 

"In  A  Wide  Shallow  Water,  Bright  with  Ten 
Thousand  Stars,  and  all  about  Him  was 
the  Rtng  op  the  Land  with  its  String  op 
PALy.  Trees," 204 

"  When  the  FfiES  sprang  up.  He  Charged  for 

them  likt.  a  Bull," 214 

**Came    into  the    Borders    of   the    Wood  and 

stood  Astonished,"     ......    216 

"And  the  Missionary  was  very  Sharp  on  Him 
FOR  Taking  the  Second  Wife  in  the  Low 
Island," 218 


THE   BEACH   OF  FALESA 

(Being  the  Narrative  of  a  South-Sea  Trader) 


THE   BEACH   OF   FALESA 

CHAPTEE  I. 

A   SOUTH-SEA   BRIDAL 

I  SAW  that  island  first  when  it  was  neither 
night  nor  morning.  The  moon  was  to  the 
west,  setting,  but  still  broad  and  bright. 
To  the  east,  and  right  amidships  of  the  dawn, 
which  was  all  pink,  the  day-star  sparkled  like  a 
diamond.  The  land  breeze  blew  in  our  faces, 
and  smelt  strong  of  wild  lime  and  vanilla  ;  other 
things  besides,  but  these  Avere  the  most  plain  ; 
and  the  chill  of  it  set  me  sneezing./  I  should 
say  I  had  been  for  years  on  a  low  island  near 
the  line,  living  for  the  most  part  solitary  among 
natives.  Here  was  a  fresh  experience ;  even 
the  tongue  would  be  quite  strange  to  me  ;  and 
the  look  of  these  woods  and  mountains,  and  the 
rare  smell  of  them,  renewed  my  blood. 

The  captain  blew  out  the  binnacle-lamp. 

"  There ! "  said  he,  "  there  goes  a  bit  of 
smoke,  Mr.  Wiltshire,  behind  the  break  of  the 


4  TEE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

reef.  That's  Falesa,  where  your  station  is,  the 
last  village  to  the  east;  nobody  lives  to  wind- 
ward— I  don't  know  why.  Take  my  glass,  and 
you  can  make  the  houses  out." 

I  took  the  glass ;  and  the  shores  leaped  near- 
er, and  I  saw  the  tangle  of  the  woods  and  the 
breach  of  the  surf,  and  the  brown  roofs  and  the 
black  insides  of  houses  peeped  among  the  trees. 

*'  Do  you  catch  a  bit  of  white  there  to  the 
east'ard  ?  "  the  captain  continued.  "  That's  your 
house.  Coral  built,  stands  high,  veranda  you 
could  walk  on  three  abreast ;  best  station  in  the 
South  Pacific.  When  old  Adams  saw  it,  he  took 
and  shook  me  by  the  hand.  '  I've  dropped  into 
a  soft  thing  here,'  says  he.  *  So  you  have,'  says 
I,  '  and  time  too  ! '  Poor  Johnny  !  I  never  saw 
him  again  but  the  once,  and  then  he  had 
changed  his  tune  —  couldn't  get  on  with  the 
natives,  or  the  whites,  or  soriething  ;  and  the 
next  time  we  came  round  there,  he  was  dead 
and  buried.  I  took  and  put  up  a  bit  of  a  stick 
to  him :  '  John  Adams,  obit  eighteen  and  sixty- 
eight.  Go  thou  and  do  likewise.'  I  missed  that 
man,     I  never  could  see  much  harm  in  Jolmny." 

''  What  did  he  die  of  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  Some  kind  of  sickness,"  says  the  captain. 
"  It  appears  it  took  him  sudden.  Seems  he  got 
up  in  the  night,  and  filled  up  on  Pain-Killer 


A  SOUTH-SEA  BRIDAL  5 

and  Kennedy's  Discovery.  No  go — he  was 
booked  beyond  Kennedy.  Then  he  had  tried 
to  open  a  case  of  gin.  No  go  again — not  strong 
enough.  Then  he  must  have  turned  to  and 
run  out  on  the  veranda,  and  capsized  over  the 
rail.  When  they  found  him,  the  next  day,  he 
was  clean  crazy — carried  on  all  the  time  about 
somebody  watering  his  copra.     Poor  John  !  " 

"  Was  it  thought  to  be  the  island  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Well,  it  was  thought  to  be  the  island,  or 
the  trouble,  or  something,"  he  replied.  "  I 
never  could  hear  but  what  it  was  a  healthy 
place.  Our  last  man.  Vigours,  never  turned  a 
hair.  He  left  because  of  the  beach — said  he 
was  afraid  of  Black  Jack  and  Case  and  Whist- 
ling Jimmie,  who  was  still  alive  at  the  time,  but 
got  drowned  soon  afterward  when  drunk.  As 
for  old  Captain  Randall,  he's  been  here  any 
time  since  eighteen-forty,  forty-five.  I  never 
could  see  much  harm  in  Billy,  nor  much  change. 
Seems  as  if  he  might  live  to  be  Old  Kafooz- 
leum.     No,  I  guess  it's  healthy." 

"  There's  a  boat  coming  now,"  said  I.  "  She's 
right  in  the  pass;  looks  to  be  a  sixteen-foot 
whale  ;  two  white  men  in  the  stern-sheets." 

"  That's  the  boat  that  drowned  Whistling 
Jimmie !  "  cried  the  captain ;  "  let's  see  the 
glass.     Yes,  that's  Case,  sure  enough,  and  the 


6  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

darkie.  They've  got  a  gallows  bad  reputation, 
but  you  know  what  a  place  the  beach  is  for  talk- 
ing. My  belief,  that  Whistling  Jimmie  was  the 
worst  of  the  trouble  ;  and  he's  gone  to  glory, 
you  see.  What'll  you  bet  they  ain't  after  gin  ? 
Lay  you  five  to  two  they  take  six  cases." 

When  these  two  traders  came  aboard  I  was 
pleased  with  the  looks  of  them  at  once,  or, 
rather,  with  the  looks  of  both,  and  the  speech  of 
one.  I  was  sick  for  white  neighbors  after  my 
four  years  at  the  line,  which  I  always  counted 
years  of  prison;  getting  tabooed,  and  going 
down  to  the  Speak  House  to  see  and  get  it 
taken  off;  buying  gin  and  going  on  a  break,  and 
then  repenting ;  sitting  in  the  house  at  night 
with  th&  lamp  for  company ;  or  walking  on  the 
beach  and  wondering  what  kind  of  a  fool  to  call 
myself  for  being  where  I  was.  There  were  no 
other  whites  upon  my  island,  and  when  I  sailed 
to  the  next,  rough  customers  made  the  most  of 
the  society.  Now  to  see  these  two  when  they 
came  aboard  was  a  pleasure.  One  was  a  negro, 
to  be  sure ;  but  they  were  both  rigged  out 
smart  in  striped  pajamas  and  straw  hats,  and 
Case  Avould  have  passed  muster  in  a  city.  He 
was  yellow  and  smallish,  had  a  hawk's  nose  to 
his  face,  pale  eyes,  and  his  beard  trimmed  with 
scissors.     No  man  knew  his  country,  beyond  he 


A  SOUTH-SEA  BRIDAL  7 

was  of  English  speech;  and  it  was  clear  he 
came  of  a  good  family  and  was  splendidly  edu- 
cated. He  was  accomplished  too  ;  played  the 
accordion  first  rate  ;  and  give  him  a  piece  of 
string  or  a  cork  or  a  pack  of  cards,  and  he  could 
show  you  tricks  equal  to  any  professional.  He 
could  speak,  when  he  chose,  fit  for  a  drawing- 
room  ;  and  when  he  chose  he  could  blaspheme 
worse  than  a  Yankee  boatswain,  and  talk  smart 
to  sicken  a  Kanaka.  The  way  he  thought  would 
pay  best  at  the  moment,  that  was  Case's  way, 
and  it  always  seemed  to  come  natural,  and  like 
as  if  he  was  born  to  it.  He  had  the  courage  of 
a  lion  and  the  cunning  of  a  rat ;  and  if  he's  not 
in  hell  to-day,  there's  no  such  place,  fl  know 
but  one  good  point  to  the  man — that  he  was 
fond  of  his  wife,  and  kind  to  her.  She  was  a 
Samoa  woman,  and  dyed  her  hair  red — Samoa 
style ;  and  when  he  came  to  die  (as  I  have  to 
tell  of)  they  found  one  strange  thing — that  he 
had  made  a  will,  like  a  Christian,  and  the  widow 
got  the  lot ;  all  his,  they  said,  and  all  Black 
Jack's,  and  the  most  of  Billy  Bandall's  in  the 
bargain,  for  it  was  Case  that  kept  the  books. 
So  she  went  off  home  in  the  schooner  Manu'a, 
and  does  the  lady  to  this  day  in  her  own  place. 

But  of  all  this  oil  that  first  morning  I  knew 
no  more  than  a  fly.     Case  used  me  like  a  gentle- 


8  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

man  and  like  a  friend,  made  me  welcome  to  Fa- 
lesa,  and  put  his  services  at  my  disposal,  which 
was  the  more  helpful  from  my  ignorance  of  the 
natives.  All  the  better  part  of  the  day  we  sat 
drinking  better  acquaintance  in  the  cabin,  and 
I  never  heard  a  man  talk  more  to  the  point. 
There  was  no  smarter  trader,  and  none  dodgier, 
in  the  islands.  I  thought  Falesa  seemed  to  be 
the  right  kind  of  a  place ;  and  the  more  I  drank 
the  lighter  my  heart.  Our  last  trader  had  fled 
the  place  at  half  an  hour's  notice,  taking  a 
chance  passage  in  a  labor  ship  from  up  west. 
The  captain,  when  he  came,  had  found  the  sta- 
tion closed,  the  keys  left  with  the  native  pas- 
tor, and  a  letter  from  the  runaway,  confessing 
he  was  fairly  frightened  of  his  life.  Since  then 
the  firm  had  not  been  represented,  and  of  course 
there  v/as  no  cargo.  The  wind,  besides,  was 
fair,  the  captain  hoped  he  could  make  his  next 
island  by  dawn,  with  a  good  tide,  and  the  busi- 
ness of  landing  my  trade  was  gone  about  lively. 
There  was  no  call  for  me  to  fool  with  it.  Case 
said ;  nobody  would  touch  my  things,  everyone 
was  honest  in  Falesa,  only  about  chickens  or  an 
odd  knife  or  an  odd  stick  of  tobacco ;  and  the 
best  I  could  do  was  to  sit  quiet  till  the  vessel  left, 
then  come  straight  to  his  house,  see  old  Captain 
Randall,  the  father  of  the  beach,  take  pot-luck, 


A  SOUTH-SEA  BRIDAL  9 

and  go  home  to  sleep  when  it  got  dark.  So  it 
was  high  noon,  and  the  schooner  was  under  way 
before  I  set  my  foot  on  shore  at  Falesa. 

I  had  a  glass  or  two  on  board ;  I  was  just  off 
a  long  cruise,  and  the  ground  heaved  under  me 
like  a  ship's  deck.  The  world  was  like  all  new 
painted ;  my  foot  went  along  to  music  ;  Falesa 
might  have  been  Fiddler's  Green,  if  there  is 
such  a  place,  and  more's  the  pity  if  there  isn't ! 
It  was  good  to  foot  the  grass,  to  look  aloft  at 
the  green  mountains,  to  see  the  men  with  their 
green  wreaths  and  the  women  in  their  bright 
dresses,  red  and  blue.  On  we  went,  in  the 
strong  sun  and  the  cool  shadow,  liking  both ; 
and  all  the  children  in  the  town  came  trotting 
after  with  their  shaven  heads  and  their  brown 
bodies,  and  raising  a  thin  kind  of  a  cheer  in 
our  wake,  like  crowing  poultry. 

"  By  the  bye,"  says  Case,  "  we  must  get  you  a 
wife." 

"  That's  so,"  said  I ;  "  I  had  forgotten." 

There  was  a  crowd  of  girls  about  us,  and  I 
pulled  myself  up  and  looked  among  them  like  a 
bashaw.  They  were  all  dressed  out  for  the 
sake  of  the  ship  being  in ;  and  the  women  of 
Falesa  are  a  handsome  lot  to  see.  If  they  have 
a  fault,  they  are  a  trifle  broad  in  the  beam  ;  and 
I  was  just  thinking  so  when  Case  touched  me. 


10  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

"  That's  pretty,"  says  he. 

I  saw  one  coming  on  the  other  side  alone. 
She  had  been  fishing;  all  she  wore  was  a 
chemise,  and  it  was  wetted  through.  She  was 
young  and  very  slender  for  an  island  maid,  with 
a  long  face,  a  high  forehead,  and  a  shy,  strange, 
blindish  look,  between  a  cat's  and  a  baby's. 

"  Who's  she  ?  "  said  I.     "  She'll  do." 

"  That's  Uma,"  said  Case,  and  he  called  her 
up  and  spoke  to  her  in  the  native.  I  didn't 
know  what  he  said;  but  when  he  was  in  the 
midst  she  looked  up  at  me  quick  and  timid,  like 
a  child  dodging  a  blow,  then  down  again,  and 
presently  smiled.  She  had  a  wide  mouth,  the 
lips  and  the  chin  cut  like  any  statue's  ;  and  the 
smile  came  out  for  a  moment  and  was  gone. 
Then  she  stood  with  her  head  bent,  and  heard 
Case  to  an  end,  spoke  back  in  the  pretty  Poly- 
nesian voice,  looking  him  full  in  the  face,  heard 
him  again  in  answer,  and  then  with  an  obeisance 
started  off.  I  had  just  a  share  of  the  bow,  but 
never  another  shot  of  her  eye,  and  there  was 
no  more  word  of  smiling. 

*'  I  guess  it's  all  right,"  said  Case.  "  I  guess 
you  can  have  her.  I'll  make  it  square  with  the 
old  lady.  You  can  have  your  pick  of  the  lot  for 
a  plug  of  tobacco,"  he  added,  sneering. 

I  suppose  it  was  the  smile  stuck  in  my  mem- 


A  SOUTH-SEA  BRIDAL  11 

ory,  for  I  spoke  back  sharp.  "She  doesn't 
look  that  sort,"  I  cried. 

"I  don't  know  that  she  is,"  said  Case.  *' I 
believe  she's  as  right  as  the  mail.  Keeps  to 
herself,  don't  go  round  with  the  gang,  and  that. 
Oh,  no,  don't  you  misunderstand  me — Uma's  on 
the  square."  He  spoke  eager,  I  thought,  and 
that  surprised  and  pleased  me.  "Indeed,"  he 
went  on,  "  I  shouldn't  make  so  sure  of  getting 
her,  only  she  cottoned  to  the  cut  of  your  jib. 
All  you  have  to  do  is  to  keep  dark  and  let  me 
work  the  mother  my  own  way ;  and  I'll  bring 
the  girl  round  to  the  captain's  for  the  mar- 
riage." 

I  didn't  care  for  the  word  marriage,  and  I 
said  so. 

"  Oh,  there's  nothing  to  hurt  in  the  marriage," 
says  he.     "  Black  Jack's  the  chaplain." 

By  this  time  we  had  come  in  view  of  the 
house  of  these  three  white  men  ;  for  a  negi'o  is 
counted  a  white  man,  and  so  is  a  Chinese  !  A 
strange  idea,  but  common  in  the  islands.  It  was 
a  board  house  with  a  strip  of  rickety  veran- 
da. The  store  was  to  the  front,  with  a  counter, 
scales,  and  the  finest  possible  display  of  trade  : 
a  case  or  two  of  tinned  meats ;  a  barrel  of  hard 
bread,  a  few  bolts  of  cotton  stuff,  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  mine  ;  the  only  thing  well  represented 


12  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

being  the  contraband  firearms  and  liquor.  "  If 
these  are  my  only  rivals,"  thinks  I,  "I  should 
do  well  in  Falesa."  Indeed,  there  was  only  the 
one  way  they  could  touch  me,  and  that  was  with 
the  guns  and  drink. 

In  the  back  room  was  old  Captain  Randall, 
squatting  on  the  floor  native  fashion,  fat  and 
pale,  naked  to  the  waist,  gray  as  a  badger,  and 
his  eyes  set  with  drink.  His  body  was  covered 
with  gray  hair  and  crawled  over  by  flies  ;  one 
was  in  the  corner  of  his  eye — he  never  heeded ; 
and  the  mosquitoes  hummed  about  the  man  like 
bees.  Any  clean-minded  man  would  have  had 
the  creature  out  at  once  and  buried  him ;  and  to 
see  him,  and  think  he  was  seventy,  and  remem- 
ber he  had  once  commanded  a  ship,  and  come 
ashore  in  his  smart  togs,  and  talked  big  in  bars 
and  consulates,  and  sat  in  club  verandas,  turned 
me  sick  and  sober. 

He  tried  to  get  up  when  I  came  in,  but  that 
was  hopeless  ;  so  he  reached  me  a  hand  instead, 
and  stumbled  out  some  salutation. 

"  Papa's  pretty  full  this  morning,"  observed 
Case.  "  We've  had  an  epidemic  here  ;  and  Cap- 
tain Randall  takes  gin  for  a  prophylactic — don't 
you,  papa  ?  " 

"  Never  took  such  a  thing  in  my  life  !  "  cried 
the   captain,  indignantly.     "  Take  gin  for  my 


A  SOUTH-SEA  BRIDAL  13 

health's  sake,  Mr.  Wha's-ever-your-name —  's  a 
precautionary  measure." 

"That's  all  right,  papa,"  said  Case.  "But 
you'll  have  to  brace  up.  There's  going  to  be  a 
marriage — Mr.  Wiltshire  here  is  going  to  get 
spliced." 

The  old  man  asked  to  whom. 

"  To  Uma,"  said  Case. 

"  Uma !  "  cried  the  captain.  "  Wha's  he  want 
Uma  for  ?  's  he  come  here  for  his  health,  any- 
way ?     Wha'  'n  hell's  he  want  Uma  for  ?  " 

"Dry  up,  papa,"  said  Case.  "'Tain't  you 
that's  to  marry  her.  I  guess  you're  not  her  god- 
father and  godmother.  I  guess  Mr.  Wiltshire's 
going  to  please  himself." 

With  that  he  made  an  excuse  to  me  that  he 
must  move  about  the  marriage,  and  left  me  alone 
with  the  poor  wretch  that  was  his  partner  and 
(to  speak  truth)  his  gull.  Trade  and  station 
belonged  both  to  Eandall ;  Case  and  the  negro 
were  parasites  ;  they  crawled  and  fed  upon  him 
like  the  flies,  he  none  the  wiser.  Indeed,  I  have 
no  harm  to  say  of  Billy  Eandall  beyond  the  fact 
that  my  gorge  rose  at  him,  and  the  time  I  now 
passed  in  his  company  was  like  a  nightmare. 

The  room  was  stifling  hot  and  full  of  flies; 
for  the  house  was  dirty  and  low  and  small,  and 
stood  in  a  bad  place,  behind  the  village,  in  the 


14  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

borders  of  the  bush,  and  sheltered  from  the 
trade.  The  three  men's  beds  were  on  the  floor, 
and  a  litter  of  pans  and  dishes.  There  was  no 
standing  furniture;  Eandall,  when  he  was  vio- 
lent, tearing  it  to  laths.  There  I  sat  and  had  a 
meal  which  was  served  us  by  Case's  wife ;  and 
there  I  was  entertained  all  day  by  that  remains 
of  man,  his  tongue  stumbling  among  low  old 
jokes  and  long  old  stories,  and  his  own  wheezy 
laughter  always  ready,  so  that  he  had  no  sense 
of  my  depression.  He  was  nipping  gin  all  the 
while.  Sometimes  he  fell  asleep,  and  awoke 
again,  whimpering  and  shivering,  and  every 
now  and  again  he  would  ask  me  w^iy  I  wanted 
to  marry  Uma.  "  My  friend,"  I  was  telling  my- 
self all  day,  "  you  must  not  come  to  be  an  old 
gentleman  like  this." 

It  might  be  four  in  the  afternoon,  perhaps, 
when  the  back  door  was  thrust  slowly  open, 
and  a  strange  old  native  woman  crawled  into 
the  house  almost  on  her  belly.  She  was  swathed 
in  black  stuff  to  her  heels ;  her  hair  was  gray 
in  swatches ;  her  face  was  tattooed,  which  was 
not  the  practice  in  that  island;  her  eyes  big 
and  bright  and  craz}^  These  she  fixed  upon 
me  mth  a  rapt  expression  that  I  saw  to  be  part 
acting.  She  said  no  plain  word,  but  smacked 
and  mumbled  with  her  lips,  and  hummed  aloud, 


A  SOUTH-SEA  BRIDAL  15 

like  a  child  over  its  Christmas  pudding.  She 
came  straight  across  the  house,  heading  for 
me,  and,  as  soon  as  she  was  alongside,  caught 
up  my  hand  and  purred  and  crooned  over  it 
like  a  great  cat.  From  this  she  slipped  into  a 
kind  of  song. 

"  Who  the  devil's  this  ?  "  cried  I,  for  the  thing 
startled  me. 

"  It's  Faavao,"  says  Eandall ;  and  I  saw  he  had 
hitched  along  the  floor  into  the  farthest  corner. 

"  You  ain't  afraid  of  her  ?  "  I  cried. 

"  Me  'fraid  ! "  cried  the  captain.  "  My  dear 
friend,  I  defy  her  1  I  don't  let  her  put  her  foot 
in  here,  only  I  suppose  's  different  to-day  for 
the  marriage,     's  Uma's  mother." 

"  Well,  suppose  it  is ;  what's  she  carrying  on 
about  ?  "  I  asked,  more  irritated,  perhaps  more 
frightened,  than  I  cared  to  show  ;  and  the  cap- 
tain told  me  she  was  making  up  a  quantity  of 
poetry  in  my  praise  because  I  was  to  marry 
Uma.  "  All  right,  old  lady,"  says  I,  with  rather 
a  failure  of  a  laugh,  "  anything  to  oblige.  But 
when  you're  done  with  my  hand,  you  might  let 
me  know." 

She  did  as  though  she  understood ;  the  song 
rose  into  a  cry,  and  stopped  ;  the  woman  crouched 
out  of  the  house  the  same  way  that  she  came  in, 
and  must  have  plunged  straight  into  the  bush, 


16  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

for  when  I  followed  her  to  the  door  she  had  al- 
ready vanished. 

"  These  are  rum  manners,"  said  I. 

"  'S  a  rum  crowd,"  said  the  captain,  and,  to  my 
surprise,  he  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  his 
bare  bosom. 

"  HiUo !  "  says  I,  "  are  you  a  Papist  ?  " 

He  repudiated  the  idea  with  contempt. 
"  Hard-shell  Baptis',"  said  he.  "  But,  my  dear 
friend,  the  Papists  got  some  good  ideas  too; 
and  th'  's  one  of  'em.  You  take  my  advice, 
and  whenever  you  come  across  Uma  or  Faavao 
or  Vigours,  or  any  of  that  crowd,  you  take  a 
leaf  out  o'  the  priests,  and  do  what  I  do.  Sav- 
vy ?  "  says  he,  repeated  the  sign,  and  winked 
his  dim  eye  at  me.  "  No,  sir  I  "  he  broke  out 
again,  "  no  Papists  here ! "  and  for  a  long  time 
entertained  me  with  his  religious  opinions. 

I  must  have  been  taken  with  Uma  from  the 
first,  or  I  should  certainly  have  fled  from  that 
house,  and  got  into  the  clean  air,  and  the  clean 
sea,  or  some  convenient  river — though,  it's  true, 
I  was  committed  to  Case ;  and,  besides,  I  could 
never  have  held  my  head  up  in  that  island  if  I 
had  run  from  a  girl  upon  my  wedding-night. 

The  sun  was  down,  the  sky  all  on  fire,  and 
the  lamp  had  been  some  time  lighted,  when  Case 
came  back  with  Uma  and  the  negro.     She  was 


UMA   SUOWEl)   TUE   BEST   BEARING  FOR   A   BRIDE   CONCEIVABLE. 


A  SOUTH-SEA  BRIDAL  17 

dressed  and  scented ;  her  kilt  was  of  fine  tapa, 
looking  richer  in  the  folds  than  any  silk ;  her 
bust,  which  was  of  the  color  of  dark  honey,  she 
wore  bare,  only  for  some  half  a  dozen  necklaces 
of  seeds  and  flowers  ;  and  behind  her  ears  and 
in  her  hair  she  had  the  scarlet  flowers  of  the 
hibiscus.  She  showed  the  best  bearing  for  a 
bride  conceivable,  serious  and  still ;  and  I  thought 
shame  to  stand  up  with  her  in  that  mean  house 
and  before  that  grinning  negro.  I  thought 
shame,  I  say  ;  for  the  mountebank  was  dressed 
with  a  big  paper  collar,  the  book  he  made  be- 
lieve to  read  from  was  an  odd  volume  of  a  nov- 
el, and  the  words  of  his  service  not  fit  to  be 
set  down.  My  conscience  smote  me  when  we 
joined  hands ;  and  when  she  got  her  certificate 
I  was  tempted  to  throw  up  the  bargain  and  con- 
fess. Here  is  the  document.  It  was  Case  that 
wrote  it,  signatures  and  all,  in  a  leaf  out  of  the 
ledger : 

This  is  to  certify  that  Uma,  daughter  of  Faavao  of 

Falesa,  Island  of ,  is  illegally  married  to  Mr.  John 

Wiltshire,  and  Mr.  John  Wiltshire  is  at  liberty  to  send 
her  packing  when  he  pleases. 

John  Blackamoab, 
Extracted  from  the  Register  Chaplain  to  the  Hulks, 

by  William  T.  Randall, 

Master  Mariner. 
2 


18  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

A  nice  paper  to  put  in  a  girl's  hand  and  see 
her  hide  away  like  gold.  A  man  might  easily 
feel  cheap  for  less.  But  it  was  the  practice  in 
these  parts,  and  (as  I  told  myself)  not  the  least 
the  fault  of  us  white  men,  but  of  the  missiona- 
ries. If  they  had  let  the  natives  be,  I  had  never 
needed  this  deception,  but  taken  all  the  wives  I 
wished,  and  left  them  when  I  pleased,  with  a 
clear  conscience. 

The  more  ashamed  I  was,  the  more  hurry  I 
was  in  to  be  gone  ;  and  our  desires  thus  jumping 
together,  I  made  the  less  remark  of  a  change  in 
the  traders.  Case  had  been  all  eagerness  to  keep 
me  ;  now,  as  though  he  had  attained  a  purpose, 
he  seemed  all  eagerness  to  have  me  go.  Uma, 
he  said,  could  show  me  to  my  house,  and  the 
three  bade  us  farewell  indoors. 

The  night  was  nearly  come ;  the  village  smelt 
of  trees  and  flowers  and  the  sea  and  bread-fruit- 
cooking  ;  there  came  a  fine  roll  of  sea  from  the 
reef,  and  from  a  distance,  among  the  woods  and 
houses,  many  pretty  sounds  of  men  and  children. 
It  did  me  good  to  breathe  free  air ;  it  did  me 
good  to  be  done  with  the  captain,  and  see,  in- 
stead, the  creature  at  my  side.  I  felt  for  all 
the  world  as  though  she  were  some  girl  at  home 
in  the  Old  Country,  and  forgetting  myself  for 
the  minute,  took  her  hand  to  walk  with.     Her 


A  SOUTH-SEA  BRIDAL  19 

fingers  nestled  into  mine,  I  heard  her  breathe 
deep  and  quick,  and  all  at  once*  she  caught  my 
hand  to  her  face  and  pressed  it  there.  "You 
good  !  "  she  cried,  and  ran  ahead  of  me,  and 
stopped  and  looked  back  and  smiled,  and  ran 
ahead  of  me  again,  thus  guiding  me  through  the 
edge  of  the  bush,  and  by  a  quiet  way  to  my  own 
house. 

The  truth  is.  Case  had  done  the  courting  for 
me  in  style — told  her  I  was  mad  to  have  her, 
and  cared  nothing  for  the  consequences  ;  and 
the  poor  soul,  knowing  that  which  I  was  still  ig- 
norant of,  believed  it,  every  word,  and  had  her 
head  nigh  turned  with  vanity  and  gratitude. 
Now,  of  all  this  I  had  no  guess  ;  I  was  one  of 
those  most  opposed  to  any  nonsense  about  na- 
tive women,  having  seen  so  many  whites  eaten 
up  by  their  wives'  relatives,  and  made  fools  of 
into  the  bargain  ;  and  I  told  myself  I  must  make 
a  stand  at  once,  and  bring  her  to  her  bearings. 
But  she  looked  so  quaint  and  pretty  as  she  ran 
away  and  then  awaited  me,  and  the  thing  was 
done  so  like  a  child  or  a  kind  dog,  that  the  best 
I  could  do  was  just  to  follow  her  whenever  she 
went  on,  to  listen  for  the  fall  of  her  bare  feet, 
and  to  watch  in  the  dusk  for  the  shining  of  her 
body.  And  there  was  another  thought  came  in 
my  head.     She  played  kitten  with  me  now  when 


20  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

we  were  alone  ;  but  in  the  house  she  had  car- 
ried it  the  way  a  countess  might,  so  proud  and 
humble.  And  what  with  her  dress  —  for  all 
there  was  so  little  of  it,  and  that  native  enough 
— what  with  her  fine  tapa  and  fine  scents,  and 
her  red  flowers  and  seeds,  that  were  quite  as 
bright  as  jewels,  only  larger — it  came  over  me 
she  was  a  kind  of  countess  really,  dressed  to 
hear  great  singers  at  a  concert,  and  no  even 
mate  for  a  poor  trader  like  myself. 

She  was  the  first  in  the  house ;  and  while  I 
was  still  without  I  saw  a  match  flash  and  the 
lamplight  kindle  in  the  windows.  The  station 
was  a  wonderful  fine  place,  coral  built,  with  quite 
a  wide  veranda,  and  the  main  room  high  and  wide. 
My  chests  and  cases  had  been  piled  in,  and  made 
rather  of  a  mess  ;  and  there,  in  the  thick  of  the 
confusion,  stood  Uma  by  the  table,  awaiting  me. 
Her  shadow  went  all  the  way  up  behind  her  into 
the  hollow  of  the  iron  roof ;  she  stood  against  it 
bright,  the  lamplight  shining  on  her  skin.  I 
stopped  in  the  door,  and  she  looked  at  me,  not 
speaking,  with  eyes  that  were  eager  and  yet 
daunted ;  then  she  touched  herself  on  the  bosom. 

"  Me — your  wifie,"  she  said.  It  had  never 
taken  me  like  that  before  ;  but  the  want  of  her 
took  and  shook  all  through  me,  like  the  wind  in 
the  luff  of  a  sail. 


A  SOUTH-SEA  BRIDAL  21 

I  could  not  speak  if  I  had  wanted ;  and  if  I 
could,  I  would  not.  I  was  ashamed  to  be  so 
much  moved  about  a  native,  ashamed  of  the 
marriage  too,  and  the  certificate  she  had  treas- 
ured in  her  kilt ;  and  I  turned  aside  and  made 
believe  to  rummage  among  my  cases.  The  first 
thing  I  lighted  on  was  a  case  of  gin,  the  only 
one  that  I  had  brought ;  and  partly  for  the 
girl's  sake,  and  partly  for  horror  of  the  recol- 
lections of  old  Randall,  took  a  sudden  resolve. 
I  pried  the  lid  off.  One  by  one  I  drew  the 
bottles  with  a  pocket  corkscrew,  and  sent  Uma 
out  to  pour  the  stuff  from  the  veranda. 

She  came  back  after  the  last,  and  looked  at 
me  puzzled  like. 

"No  good,"  said  I,  for  I  was  now  a  little 
better  master  of  my  tongue.  "Man  he  drink, 
he  no  good." 

She  agreed  with  this,  but  kept  considering. 
"  Why  you  bring  him  ?  "  she  asked,  presently. 
"  Suppose  you  no  want  drink,  you  no  bring  him, 
I  think." 

"  That's  all  right,"  said  I.  "  One  time  I  want 
drink  too  much ;  now  no  want.  You  see,  I  no 
savvy,  I  get  one  little  wifie.  Suppose  I  drink 
gin,  my  little  wifie  be  'fraid." 

To  speak  to  her  kindly  was  about  more  than  I 
was  fit  for ;  I  had  made  my  vow  I  would  never 


22  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

let   on   to  weakness  with  a  native,  and  I  had 
nothing  for  it  but  to  stop. 

She  stood  looking  gravely  down  at  me  where  I 
sat  by  the  open  case.  "  I  think  you  good  man," 
she  said.  And  suddenly  she  had  fallen  before 
me  on  the  floor.  "I  belong  you  all-e-same 
pig !  "  she  cried. 


CHAPTEK  11. 

THE    BAN 

1CAME  on  the  veranda  just  before  the  sun 
rose  on  the  morrow.  My  house  was  the 
last  on  the  east ;  there  was  a  cape  of  woods 
and  cliffs  behmd  that  hid  the  sunrise.  To  the 
west,  a  swift,  cold  river  ran  down,  and  beyond  was 
the  green  of  the  village,  dotted  with  cocoa-palms 
and  bread-fruits  and  houses.  The  shutters  were 
some  of  them  down  and  some  open ;  I  saw  the 
mosquito  bars  still  stretched,  with  shadows  of 
people  new  -  awakened  sitting  up  inside  ;  and 
all  over  the  green  others  were  stalking  silent, 
wrapped  in  their  many-colored  sleeping  clothes, 
like  Bedouins  in  Bible  pictures.  It  was  mortal 
still  and  solemn  and  chilly,  and  the  light  of 
the  dawn  on  the  lagoon  was  like  the  shining  of 
a  fire.  "^ 

But  the  thing  that  troubled  me  was  nearer 
hand.  Some  dozen  young  men  and  children 
made  a  piece  of  a  half-circle,  flanking  my  house  : 
the  river  divided  them,  some  were  on  the  near 


24  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

side,  some  on  the  far,  and  one  on  a  bowlder  in 
the  midst ;  and  they  all  sat  silent,  wrapped  in 
their  sheets,  and  stared  at  me  and  my  house  as 
straight  as  pointer  dogs.  I  thought  it  strange 
as  I  went  out.  AVlien  I  had  bathed  and  come 
back  again,  and  found  them  all  there,  and  two 
or  three  more  along  with  them,  I  thought  it 
stranger  still.  What  could  they  see  to  gaze  at 
in  my  house  I  wondered,  and  went  in. 

But  the  thought  of  these  starers  stuck  in  my 
mind,  and  presently  I  came  out  again.  The  sun 
was  now  up,  but  it  was  still  behind  the  cape 
of  woods.  Say  a  quarter  of  an  hour  had  come 
and  gone.  The  crowd  was  greatly  increased, 
the  far  bank  of  the  river  was  lined  for  quite  a 
way — perhaps  thirty  grown  folk,  and  of  children 
twice  as  many,  some  standing,  some  squatted  on 
the  ground,  and  all  staring  at  my  house.  I  have 
seen  a  house  in  a  South-Sea  village  thus  sur- 
rounded, but  then  a  trader  was  thrashing  his 
wife  inside,  and  she  singing  out.  Here  was 
nothing — the  stove  was  alight,  the  smoke  going 
up  in  a  Christian  manner ;  all  was  shipshape  and 
Bristol  fashion.  To  be  sure,  there  was  a  stranger 
come,  but  they  had  a  chance  to  see  that  stranger 
yesterday,  and  took  it  quiet  enough.  What 
ailed  them  now  ?  I  leaned  my  arms  on  the  rail 
and  stared   back.     Pevil   a   wink   they  had  in 


THE  BAN  25 

tliem  !  Now  and  then  I  could  see  the  children 
chatter,  but  they  spoke  so  low  not  even  the  hum 
of  their  speaking  came  my  length.  The  rest 
were  like  graven  images :  they  stared  at  me, 
dumb  and  sorrowful,  with  their  bright  eyes ; 
and  it  came  upon  me  things  would  look  not 
much  different  if  I  were  on  the  platform  of  the 
gallows,  and  these  good  folk  had  come  to  see  me 
hanged. 

I  felt  I  was  getting  daunted,  and  began  to  be 
afraid  I  looked  it,  which  would  never  do.  Up  I 
stood,  made  believe  to  stretch  myself,  came  down 
the  veranda  stair,  and  strolled  toward  the  river. 
There  went  a  short  buzz  from  one  to  the  other, 
like  what  you  hear  in  theatres  when  the  curtain 
goes  up ;  and  some  of  the  nearest  gave  back  the 
matter  of  a  pace.  I  saw  a  girl  lay  one  hand  on 
a  young  man  and  make  a  gesture  upward  with 
the  other ;  at  the  same  time  she  said  something 
in  the  native  with  a  gasping  voice.  Three  little 
boys  sat  beside  my  path,  where  I  must  pass 
within  three  feet  of  them.  Wrapped  in  their 
sheets,  with  their  shaved  heads  and  bits  of  top- 
knots, and  queer  faces,  they  looked  like  figures 
on  a  chimney  -  piece.  Awhile  they  sat  their 
ground,  solemn  as  judges.  I  came  up  hand  over 
fist,  doing  my  five  knots,  like  a  man  that  meant 
business ;  and  I  thought  I  saw  a  sort  of  a  wink 


26  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

and  gulp  in  the  three  faces.  Then  one  jumped 
up  (he  was  the  farthest  off)  and  ran  for  his 
mammy.  The  other  two,  trying  to  follow  suit, 
got  foul,  came  to  the  groimd  together  bawling, 
wriggled  right  out  of  their  sheets,  and  in  a  mo- 
ment  there  were  all  three  of  them  scampering 
for  their  lives,  and  singing  out  like  pigs.  The 
natives,  who  would  never  let  a  joke  slip,  even  at 
a  burial,  laughed  and  let  up,  as  short  as  a  dog's 
bark. 

They  say  it  scares  a  man  to  be  alone.  No 
such  thing.  What  scares  him  in  the  dark  or  the 
high  bush  is  that  he  can't  make  sure,  and  there 
might  be  an  army  at  his  elbow.  What  scares 
him  worst  is  to  be  right  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd, 
and  have  no  guess  of  what  they're  driving  at. 
When  that  laugh  stopped,  I  stopped  too.  The 
boys  had  not  yet  made  their  offing ;  they  were 
still  on  the  full  stretch  going  the  one  way,  when 
I  had  already  gone  about  ship  and  was  sheering 
off  the  other.  Like  a  fool  I  had  come  out,  doing 
my  five  knots  ;  like  a  fool  I  went  back  again.  It 
must  have  been  the  funniest  thing  to  see,  and 
what  knocked  me  silly,  this  time  no  one  laughed  ; 
only  one  old  woman  gave  a  kind  of  pious  moan, 
the  way  you  have  heard  Dissenters  in  their 
chapels  at  the  sermon. 

"  I  never  saw  such  fools  of  Kanakas  as  your 


TEE  BAN  27 

people  here,"  I  said  once  to  Uma,  glanciug  out 
of  the  window  at  the  starers. 

"Savvy  nothing,"  says  Uma,  with  a  kind  of 
disgusted  air  that  she  was  good  at. 

And  that  was  all  the  talk  we  had  upon  the 
matter,  for  I  was  put  out,  and  Uma  took  the 
thing  so  much  as  a  matter  of  course  that  I  was 
fairly  ashamed. 

All  day,  off  and  on,  now  fewer  and  now  more, 
the  fools  sat  about  the  west  end  of  ray  house 
and  across  the  river,  waiting  for  the  show,  what- 
ever that  was — fire  to  come  down  from  heaven, 
I  suppose,  and  consume  me,  bones  and  bag- 
gage. But  by  evening,  like  real  islanders,  they 
had  wearied  of  the  business,  and  got  away,  and 
had  a  dance  instead  in  the  big  house  of  the 
village,  where  I  heard  them  singing  and  clap- 
ping hands  till,  maybe,  ten  at  night,  and  the 
next  day  it  seemed  they  had  forgotten  I  ex- 
isted. If  fire  had  come  down  from  heaven  or 
the  earth  opened  and  swallowed  me,  there  would 
have  been  nobody  to  see  the  sport  or  take  the 
lesson,  or  whatever  you  like  to  call  it.  But  I 
was  to  find  they  hadn't  forgot  either,  and 
kept  an  eye  lifting  for  phenomena  over  my 
way. 

I  was  hard  at  it  both  these  days  getting  my 
trade  in  order  and  taking  stock  of  what  Vigours 


28  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

had  left.  This  was  a  job  that  made  me  pretty 
sick,  and  kept  me  from  thinking  on  much  else. 
Ben  had  taken  stock  the  trip  before — I  knew  I 
could  trust  Ben — but  it  was  plain  somebody  had 
been  making  free  in  the  meantime.  I  found  I 
was  out  by  what  might  easily  cover  six  months' 
salary  and  profit,  and  I  could  have  kicked  my- 
self all  round  the  village  to  have  been  such  a 
blamed  ass,  sitting  boozing  with  that  Case  in- 
stead of  attending  to  my  o^\^l  affairs  and  taking 
stock. 

However,  there's  no  use  crying  over  spilt  milk. 
It  was  done  now,  and  couldn't  be  undone.  All 
I  could  do  was  to  get  what  was  left  of  it,  and 
my  new  stuff  (my  own  choice)  in  order,  to  go 
round  and  get  after  the  rats  and  cockroaches, 
and  to  fix  up  that  store  regular  Sydney  style. 
A  fine  show  I  made  of  it ;  and  the  third  morn- 
ing, when  I  had  lit  my  pipe  and  stood  in  the 
doorway  and  looked  in,  and  turned  and  looked 
far  up  the  mountain  and  saw  the  cocoa-nuts 
waving  and  posted  up  the  tons  of  copra,  and 
over  the  village  green  and  saw  the  island  dan- 
dies and  reckoned  up  the  yards  of  print  they 
wanted  for  their  kilts  and  dresses,  I  felt  as  if  I 
was  in  the  right  place  to  make  a  fortune,  and  go 
home  again  and  start  a  public -house.  There 
was  I,  sitting  in  that  veranda,  in  as  handsome  a 


THE  BAN  29 

piece  of  scenery  as  you  could  find,  a  splendid 
sun,  and  a  fine,  fresh,  healthy  trade  that  stirred 
up  a  man's  blood  like  sea-bathing  ;  and  the  whole 
thing  was  clean  gone  from  me,  and  I  was  dream- 
ing England,  which  is,  after  all,  a  nasty,  cold, 
muddy  hole,  with  not  enough  light  to  see  to 
read  by  ;  and  dreaming  the  looks  of  my  public, 
by  a  cant  of  a  broad  high-road  like  an  avenue 
and  with  the  sign  on  a  green  tree. 

So  much  for  the  morning,  but  the  day  passed 
and  the  devil  anyone  looked  near  me,  and  from 
all  I  knew  of  natives  in  other  islands  I  thought 
this  strange.  People  laughed  a  little  at  our  firm 
and  their  fine  stations,  and  at  this  station  of 
Falesa  in  particular ;  all  the  copra  in  the  district 
wouldn't  pay  for  it  (I  had  heard  them  say)  in 
fifty  years,  which  I  supposed  was  an  exaggera- 
tion. But  when  the  day  went,  and  no  business 
came  at  all,  I  began  to  get  downhearted ;  and, 
about  three  in  the  afternoon,  I  went  out  for  a 
stroll  to  cheer  me  up.  On  the  green  I  saw  a. 
white  man  coming  with  a  cassock  on,  by  which 
and  by  the  face  of  him  I  knew  he  was  a  priest. 
He  was  a  good-natured  old  soul  to  look  at,  gone 
a  little  grizzled,  and  so  dirty  you  could  have 
written  with  him  on  a  piece  of  paper. 

"  Good-day,  sir,"  said  I. 

He  answered  me  eagerly  in  native. 


30  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

*'  Don't  you  speak  any  English  ?  "  said  I. 

"  French,"  says  he. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  I'm  sorry,  but  I  can't  do 
anything  there." 

He  tried  me  a  while  in  the  French,  and  then 
again  in  native,  which  he  seemed  to  think  was 
the  best  chance.  I  made  out  he  was  after  more 
than  passing  the  time  of  day  with  me,  but  had 
something  to  communicate,  and  I  listened  the 
harder.  I  heard  the  names  of  Adams  and  Case 
and  of  Kandall— Kandall  the  oftenest— and  the 
word  "poison,"  or  something  like  it,  and  a  na- 
tive word  that  he  said  very  often.  I  went  home, 
repeating  it  to  myself. 

"  What  does  fussy-ocky  mean  ?  "  I  asked  of 
Uma,  for  that  was  as  near  as  I  could  come  to 
it. 

*'  Make  dead,"  said  she. 

"The  devil  it  does!"  says  I.  "Did  ever 
you  hear  that  Case  had  poisoned  Johnny 
Adams?" 

"Every  man  he  savvy  that,"  says  Uma, 
scornful -like.  "Give  him  white  sand— bad 
sand.  He  got  the  bottle  still.  Suppose  he  give 
you  gin,  you  no  take  him." 

Now  I  had  heard  much  the  same  sort  of  story 
in  other  islands,  and  the  same  white  powder 
always  to  the  front,  which  made  me  think  the 


.r. 


'P'^— -=^*%fr- 


THE  BAN  31 

less  of  it.  For  all  that,  I  went  over  to  Kandall's 
place  to  see  what  I  could  pick  up,  and  found 
Case  on  the  doorstep,  cleaning  a  gun.       * 

"  Good  shooting  here  ?  "  says  I. 

''A  1,"  says  he.  "The  bush  is  full  of  all 
kinds  of  birds.  I  wish  copra  was  as  plenty," 
says  he — I  thought,  slyly — "but  there  don't 
seem  anything  doing." 

I  could  see  Black  Jack  in  the  store,  serving  a 
customer. 

"  That  looks  like  business,  though,"  said  I. 

"  That's  the  first  sale  we've  made  in  three 
weeks,"  said  he. 

"You  don't  tell  me?"  says  I.  "Three 
weeks  ?     Well,  well." 

"  If  you  don't  believe  me,"  he  cries,  a  little 
hot,  "  you  can  go  and  look  at  the  copra-house. 
It's  half  empty  to  this  blessed  hour." 

"  I  shouldn't  be  much  the  better  for  that,  you 
see,"  says  I.  "  For  all  I  can  tell,  it  might  have 
been  whole  empty  yesterday." 

"  That's  so,"  says  he,  with  a  bit  of  a  laugh. 

"  By  the  by,"  I  said,  "  what  sort  of  a  party 
is  that  priest  ?     Seems  rather  a  friendly  sort." 

At  this  Case  laughed  right  out  loud.  "  Ah  !  " 
says  he,  "  I  see  what  ails  you  now.  Galuchet's 
been  at  you."  Father  Galoshes  was  the  name 
he  went  by  most,  but   Case  always  gave  it  the 


32  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

French  quirk,  which  was  another  reason  we  hgbd 
for  thinking  him  above  the  common. 

"Yes,  I  have  seen  him,"  I  says.  "I  made 
out  he  didn't  think  much  of  your  Captain  Ean- 
dall." 

"  That  he  don't !  "  says  Case.  "  It  was  the 
trouble  about  poor  Adams.  The  last  day,  when 
he  lay  dying,  there  was  young  Buncombe  round. 
Ever  met  Buncombe  ?  '* 

I  told  him  no. 

"  He's  a  cure,  is  Buncombe ! "  laughs  Case. 
"Well,  Buncombe  took  it  in  his  head  that,  as 
there  was  no  other  clergyman  about,  bar  Kanaka 
pastors,  we  ought  to  call  in  Father  Galuchet, 
and  have  the  old  man  administered  and  take  the 
sacrament.  It  was  all  the  same  to  me,  you  may 
suppose  ;  but  I  said  I  thought  Adams  was  the 
fellow  to  consult.  He  was  jawing  away  about 
watered  copra  and  a  sight  of  foolery.  *Look 
here,'  I  said,  'you're  pretty  sick.  Would  you 
like  to  see  Galoshes  ?  '  He  sat  right  up  on  his 
elbow.  '  Get  the  priest,'  says  he,  '  get  the 
priest ;  don't  let  me  die  here  like  a  dog  ! '  He 
spoke  kind  of  fierce  and  eager,  but  sensible 
enough.  There  was  nothing  to  say  against  that, 
so  we  sent  and  asked  Galuchet  if  he  would 
come.  You  bet  he  would.  He  jumped  in  his 
dirty  linen  at  the  thought  of  it.   But  we  had  reck- 


THE  BAN  33 

oned  without  Papa.  He's  a  hard-shelled  Baptist, 
is  Papa  ;  no  Papists  need  apply.  And  he  took 
and  locked  the  door.  Buncombe  told  him  he 
was  bigoted,  and  I  thought  he  would  have  had 
a  fit.  '  Bigoted ! '  he  says.  *  Me  bigoted  ?  Have 
I  lived  to  hear  it  from  a  jackanapes  like  you  ?  ' 
And  he  made  for  Buncombe,  and  I  had  to  hold 
them  apart ;  and  there  was  Adams  in  the  mid- 
dle, gone  luny  again,  and  carrying  on  about  co- 
pra like  a  born  fool.  It  was  good  as  the  play, 
and  I  was  about  knocked  out  of  time  with  laugh- 
ing, when  all  of  a  sudden  Adams  sat  up,  clapped 
his  hands  to  his  chest,  and  went  into  the  hor- 
rors. He  died  hard,  did  John  Adams,"  says 
Case,  with  a  kind  of  a  sudden  sternness. 

"  And  what  became  of  the  priest  ?  "  I  asked. 

"The  priest?"  says  Case.  "Oh!  he  was 
hammering  on  the  door  outside,  and  crying  on 
the  natives  to  come  and  beat  it  in,  and  singing 
out  it  was  a  soul  he  wished  to  save,  and  that. 
He  was  in  a  rare  taking,  was  the  priest.  But 
what  would  you  have  ?  Johnny  had  slipped  his 
cable  ;  no  more  Johnny  in  the  market ;  and  the 
administration  racket  clean  played  out.  Next 
thing,  word  came  to  Kandall  that  the  priest  was 
praying  upon  Johnny's  grave.  Papa  was  pretty 
full,  and  got  a  club,  and  lit  out  straight  for  the 
place,  and  there  was  Galoshes  on  his  knees,  and 
3 


34  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

a  lot  of  natives  looking  on.  You  wouldn't  think 
i*apa  cared  that  much  about  anything,  unless  it 
was  liquor ;  but  he  and  the  priest  stuck  to  it 
two  hours,  slanging  each  other  in  native,  and 
every  time  Galoshes  tried  to  kneel  down  Papa 
went  for  him  with  the  club.  There  never  were 
such  larks  in  Falesa.  The  end  of  it  was  that 
Captain  Kandall  knocked  over  with  some  kind 
of  a  fit  or  stroke,  and  the  priest  got  in  his  goods 
after  all.  But  he  was  the  angriest  priest  you 
ever  heard  of,  and  complained  to  the  chiefs 
about  the  outrage,  as  he  called  it.  That  was 
no  account,  for  our  chiefs  are  Protestant  here  ; 
and,  anyway,  he  had  been  making  trouble  about 
the  drum  for  morning  school,  and  they  were  glad 
to  give  him  a  wipe.  Now  he  swears  old  Eandall 
gave  Adams  poison  or  something,  and  when  the 
two  meet  they  grin  at  each  other  like  baboons." 

He  told  this  story  as  natural  as  could  be, 
and  like  a  man  that  enjoyed  the  fun ;  though 
now  I  come  to  think  of  it  after  so  long,  it  seems 
rather  a  sickening  yarn.  However,  Case  never 
set  up  to  be  soft,  only  to  be  square  and  hearty, 
and  a  man  all  round ;  and,  to  tell  the  truth*  he 
puzzled  me  entirely. 

I  went  home  and  asked  lima  if  she  were  a 
Popey,  which  I  had  made  out  to  be  the  native 
word  for  Catholics. 


THE  BAN  35 

** E  le  ai!"  says  she.  She  always  used  the 
native  when  she  meant  "  no  "  more  than  usually 
strong,  and,  indeed,  there's  more  of  it.  "  No 
good  Popey,"  she  added. 

Then  I  asked  her  about  Adams  and  the 
priest,  and  she  told  me  much  the  same  yarn  in 
her  own  way.  So  that  I  was  left  not  much 
farther  on,  but  inclined,  upon  the  whole,  to 
think  the  bottom  of  the  matter  was  the  row 
about  the  sacrament,  and  the  poisoning  only 
talk. 

The  next  day  was  a  Sunday,  when  there  was 
no  business  to  be  looked  for.  Uma  asked  me 
in  the  morning  if  I  was  going  to  "  pray ;  "  I 
told  her  she  bet  not,  and  she  stopped  home 
herself,  with  no  more  words.  I  thought  this 
seemed  unlike  a  native,  and  a  native  woman, 
and  a  woman  that  had  new  clothes  to  show  off ; 
however,  it  suited  me  to  the  ground,  and  I  made 
the  less  of  it.  The  queer  thing  was  that  I  came 
next  door  to  going  to  church  after  all,  a  thing 
I'm  little  likely  to  forget.  I  had  turned  out  for 
a  stroll,  and  heard  the  hymn  tune  up.  You 
know  how  it  is.  If  you  hear  folk  singing,  it 
seems  to  draw  you;  and  pretty  soon  I  found 
myself  alongside  the  church.  It  was  a  little, 
long,  low  place,  coral  built,  rounded  off  at  both 
ends  like  a  whale-boat,  a  big  native  roof  on  the 


36  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

top  of  it,  windows  without  sashes  and  doorways 
without  doors.  I  stuck  my  head  into  one  of  the 
windows,  and  the  sight  was  so  new  to  me — for 
things  went  quite  different  in  the  islands  I  was 
acquainted  mth — that  I  stayed  and  looked  on. 
The  congregation  sat  on  the  floor  on  mats,  the 
women  on  one  side,  the  men  on  the  other,  all 
rigged  out  to  kill — the  women  with  dresses  and 
trade  hats,  the  men  in  white  jackets  and  shirts. 
The  hymn  was  over ;  the  pastor,  a  big  buck 
Kanaka,  was  in  the  pulpit,  preaching  for  his 
life  ;  and  by  the  way  he  Avagged  his  hand,  and 
worked  his  voice,  and  made  his  points,  and 
seemed  to  argue  with  the  folk,  I  made  out  he 
was  a  gun  at  the  business.  Well,  he  looked 
up  suddenly  and  caught  my  eye,  and  I  give 
you  my  word  he  staggered  in  the  pulpit;  his 
eyes  bulged  out  of  his  head,  his  hand  rose  and 
pointed  at  me  like  as  if  against  his  will,  and  the 
sermon  stopped  right  there. 

It  isn't  a  fine  thing  to  say  for  yourself,  but  I 
ran  away ;  and,  if  the  same  kind  of  a  shock  was 
given  me,  I  should  run  away  again  to-morrow. 
To  see  that  palavering  Kanaka  struck  all  of  a 
heap  at  the  mere  sight  of  me  gave  me  a  feel- 
ing as  if  the  bottom  had  dropped  out  of  the 
world.  I  went  right  home,  and  stayed  there, 
and  said   nothing.     You   might  think  I  would 


THE  BAN  37 

tell  Uma,  but  that  was  against  my  system. 
You  might  have  thought  I  would  have  gone 
over  and  consulted  Case  ;  but  the  truth  was  I 
was  ashamed  to  speak  of  such  a  thing,  I 
thought  everyone  would  blurt  out  laughing  in 
my  face.  So  I  held  my  tongue,  and  thought  all 
the  more  ;  and  the  more  I  thought,  the  less  I 
liked  the  business. 

By  Monday  night  I  got  it  clearly  in  my  head 
I  must  be  tabooed.  A  new  store  to  stand  open 
two  days  in  a  village  and  not  a  man  or  woman 
come  to  see  the  trade,  was  past  believing. 

"  Uma,"  said  I,  "I  think  I'm  tabooed." 

"  I  think  so,"  said  she. 

I  thought  a  while  whether  I  should  ask  her 
more,  but  it's  a  bad  idea  to  set  natives  up  with 
any  notion  of  consulting  them,  so  I  went  to 
Case.  It  was  dark,  and  he  was  sitting  alone,  as 
he  did  mostly,  smoking  on  the  stairs. 

"  Case,"  said  I,  "  here's  a  queer  thing.  I'm 
tabooed." 

" Oh,  fudge  !  "  says  he  ;  "  'taint  the  practice 
in  these  islands." 

"  That  maybe,  or  it  mayn't,"  said  I.  *'  It's 
the  practice  where  I  was  before.  You  can  bet  I 
know  v/hat  it's  like  ;  and  I  tell  it  you  for  a  fact, 
I'm  tabooed." 

"Well,"  said  he,  "what  have  you  been  doing?  " 


38  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

"  That's  what  I  want  to  find  out,"  said  I. 

"  Oh,  you  can't  be,"  said  he  ;  "it  ain't  possi- 
ble. However,  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do.  Just 
to  put  your  mind  at  rest,  I'll  go  round  and  find 
out  for  sure.  Just  you  waltz  in  and  talk  to 
Papa." 

"  Thank  you,"  I  said,  "  I'd  rather  stay  right 
out  here  on  the  veranda.  Your  house  is  so 
close." 

"  I'll  call  Papa  out  here,  then,"  says  he. 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  I  says,  "  I  wish  you 
wouldn't.  The  fact  is,  I  don't  take  to  Mr.  Ran- 
dall." 

Case  laughed,  took  a  lantern  from  the  store, 
and  set  out  into  the  village.  He  was  gone  per- 
haps a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  he  looked 
mighty  serious  when  he  came  back. 

"Well,"  said  he,  clapping  down  the  lantern 
on  the  veranda  steps,  "  I  would  never  have  be- 
lieved it.  I  don't  know  where  the  impudence 
of  these  Kanakas  '11  go  next ;  they  seem  to  have 
lost  all  idea  of  respect  for  whites.  What  we 
want  is  a  man-of-war — a  German,  if  we  could — 
they  know  how  to  manage  Kanakas." 

"  I  am  tabooed,  then  ?  "  I  cried. 

"  Something  of  the  sort,"  said  he.  "  It's  the 
worst  thing  of  the  kind  I've  heard  of  yet.  But 
I'll  stand  by  you,  Wiltshire,  man  to  man.     You 


THE  BAN  39 

come  round  here  to-morrow  about  nine,  and 
we'll  have  it  out  with  the  chiefs.  They're  afraid 
of  me,  or  they  used  to  be  ;  but  their  heads  are 
so  big  by  now,  I  don't  know  what  to  think. 
Understand  me,  Wiltshire ;  I  don't  count  this 
your  quarrel,"  he  went  on,  with  a  great  deal  of 
resolution,  "  I  count  it  all  of  our  quarrel,  I  count 
it  the  White  Man's  Quarrel,  and  I'll  stand 
to  it  through  thick  and  thin,  and  there's  my 
hand  on  it." 

"  Have  you  found  out  what's  the  reason  ?  "  I 
asked. 

"  Not  yet,"  said  Case.  "  But  we'll  fire  them 
down  to-morrow." 

Altogether  I  was  pretty  well  pleased  with  his 
attitude,  and  almost  more  the  next  day,  when 
we  met  to  go  before  the  chiefs,  to  see  him  so 
stern  and  resolved.  The  chiefs  awaited  us  in 
one  of  their  big  oval  houses,  which  was  marked 
out  to  us  from  a  long  way  off  by  the  crowd 
about  the  eaves,  a  hundred  strong  if  there  was 
one — men,  women,  and  children.  Many  of  the 
men  were  on  their  way  to  work  and  wore  green 
WTeaths,  and  it  put  me  in  thoughts  of  the  first  of 
May  at  home.  This  crowd  opened  and  buzzed 
about  the  pair  of  us  as  we  went  in,  with  a  sudden 
angry  animation.  Five  chiefs  were  there  ;  four 
mighty,  stately  men,  the  fifth  old  and  puckered. 


40  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

They  sat  on  mats  in  their  white  kilts  and  jackets ; 
they  had  fans  in  their  hands,  like  fine  ladies ; 
and  two  of  the  younger  ones  wore  Catholic 
medals,  which  gave  me  matter  of  reflection. 
Our  place  was  set,  and  the  mats  laid  for  us  over 
against  these  grandees,  on  the  near  side  of  the 
house ;  the  midst  was  empty ;  the  crowd,  close 
at  our  backs,  murmured  and  craned  and  jostled 
to  look  on,  and  the  shadows  of  them  tossed  in 
front  of  us  on  the  clean  pebbles  of  the  floor.  I 
was  just  a  hair  put  out  by  the  excitement  of  the 
commons,  but  the  quiet,  civil  appearance  of  the 
chiefs  reassured  me,  all  the  more  when  their 
spokesman  began  and  made  a  long  speech  in  a 
low  tone  of  voice,  sometimes  waving  his  hand 
toward  Case,  sometimes  toward  me,  and  some- 
times knocking  with  his  knuckles  on  the  mat. 
One  thing  was  clear :  there  was  no  sign  of  anger 
in  the  chiefs. 

"  What's  he  been  saying  ?  "  I  asked,  when  he 
had  done. 

"  Oh,  just  that  they're  glad  to  see  you,  and 
they  understand  by  me  you  wish  to  make  some 
kind  of  complaint,  and  you're  to  fire  away,  and 
they'll  do  the  square  thing." 

"  It  took  a  precious  long  time  to  say  that," 
I. 

"  Oh,  the  rest  was  sawder  and  honjour  and 


I  yMlVERSHY    ]\ 


THE  BAN  41 

that,"  said  Case.  **You  know  what  Kanakas 
are." 

"Well,  they  don't  get  much  honjour  out  of 
me,"  said  I.  "  You  tell  them  who  I  am.  I'm  a 
white  man,  and  a  British  subject,  and  no  end  of 
a  big  chief  at  home  ;  and  I've  come  here  to  do 
them  good,  and  bring  them  civilization  ;  and  no 
sooner  have  I  got  my  trade  sorted  out  than  they 
go  and  taboo  me,  and  no  one  dare  come  near  my 
place !  Tell  them  I  don't  mean  to  fly  in  the 
face  of  anything  legal ;  and  if  what  they  want's 
a  present,  I'll  do  what's  fair.  I  don't  blame  any 
man  looking  out  for  himself,  tell  them,  for  that's 
human  nature ;  but  if  they  think  they're  going 
to  come  any  of  their  native  ideas  over  me,  they'll 
find  themselves  mistaken.  And  tell  them  plain 
that  I  demand  the  reason  of  this  treatment  as  a 
white  man  and  a  British  subject." 

That  was  my  speech.  I  knew  how  to  deal 
mth  Kanakas  :  give  them  plain  sense  and  fair 
dealing,  and — I'll  do  them  that  much  justice — 
they  knuckle  under  every  time.  They  haven't 
any  real  government  or  any  real  law,  that's  what 
you've  got  to  knock  into  their  heads ;  and  even 
if  they  had,  it  would  be  a  good  joke  if  it  was  to 
apply  to  a  white  man.  It  would  be  a  strange 
thing  if  we  came  all  this  way  and  couldn't  do 
what  we   pleased.     The  mere  idea  has  always 


42  THE  BEACn  OF  F ALES  A 

put  my  monkey  up,  and  I  rapped  my  speech  out 
pretty  big.  Then  Case  translated  it — or  made 
believe  to,  rather — and  the  first  chief  replied, 
and  then  a  second,  and  a  third,  all  in  the  same 
style — easy  and  genteel,  but  solemn  underneath. 
Once  a  question  was  put  to  Case,  and  he  an- 
swered it,  and  all  hands  (both  chiefs  and  com- 
mons) laughed  out  aloud,  and  looked  at  me. 
Last  of  all,  the  puckered  old  fellow  and  the  big 
young  chief  that  spoke  first  started  in  to  put 
Case  through  a  kind  of  catechism.  Sometimes  I 
made  out  that  Case  was  trying  to  fence,  and  they 
stuck  to  him  like  hounds,  and  the  sweat  ran 
down  his  face,  which  was  no  very  pleasant  sight 
to  me,  and  at  some  of  his  answers  the  crowd 
moaned  and  murmured,  which  was  a  worse  hear- 
ing. It's  a  cruel  shame  I  knew  no  native,  for 
(as  I  now  believe)  they  were  asking  Case  about 
my  marriage,  and  he  must  have  had  a  tough  job 
of  it  to  clear  his  feet.  But  leave  Case  alone ; 
he  had  the  brains  to  run  a  parliament. 

"  Well,  is  that  all  ?  "  I  asked,  when  a  pause  came. 

"  Come  along,"  says  he,  mopping  his  face  ; 
''  I'll  tell  you  outside." 

"  Do  you  mean  they  won't  take  the  taboo  off  ?  '* 
I  cried. 

"  It's  something  queer,"  said  he.  "  I'll  tell 
you  outside.     Better  come  away." 


TEE  BAN  43 

"  I  won't  take  it  at  their  hands,"  cried  I. 
"  I  ain't  that  kind  of  a  man.  You  don't  find  me 
turn  my  back  on  a  parcel  of  Kanakas." 

"You'd  better,"  said  Case. 

He  looked  at  me  with  a  signal  in  his  eye ;  and 
the  five  chiefs  looked  at  me  civilly  enough,  but 
kind  of  pointed ;  and  the  people  looked  at  me 
and  craned  and  jostled.  I  remembered  the  folks 
that  watched  my  house,  and  how  the  pastor  had 
jumped  in  his  pulpit  at  the  bare  sight  of  me  ; 
and  the  whole  business  seemed  so  out  of  the  way 
that  I  rose  and  followed  Case.  The  crowd 
opened  again  to  let  us  through,  but  wider  than 
before,  the  children  on  the  skirts  running  and 
singing  out,  and  as  we  two  white  men  walked 
away  they  all  stood  and  watched  us. 

"  And  now,"  said  I,  "  what  is  all  this  about  ?  " 

"  The  truth  is  I  can't  rightly  make  it  out  my- 
self.    They  have  a  down  on  you,"  says  Case. 

"  Taboo  a  man  because  they  have  a  down  on 
him !  "  I  cried.     "  I  never  heard  the  like." 

"  It's  worse  than  that,  you  see,"  said  Case. 
"You  ain't  tabooed — I  told  you  that  couldn't 
be.  The  people  won't  go  near  you,  Wiltshire, 
and  there's  where  it  is." 

"  They  won't  go  near  me  ?  What  do  you 
mean  by  that  ?  Why  won't  they  go  near  me  ?  " 
I  cried. 


44  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

Case  hesitated.  "  Seems  they're  frightened," 
says  he,  in  a  low  voice. 

I  stopped  dead  short.  "  Frightened  ?  "  I  re- 
peated. "  Are  you  gone  crazy,  Case  ?  What 
are  they  frightened  of  ?  " 

"  I  wish  I  could  make  out,"  Case  answered, 
shaking  his  head.  ''Appears  like  one  of  their 
tomfool  superstitions.  That's  what  I  don't  cot- 
ton to,"  he  said.  "  It's  like  the  business  about 
Vigours." 

"  I'd  like  to  know  what  you  mean  by  that,  and 
I'll  trouble  you  to  tell  me,"  says  I. 

"  Well,  you  know.  Vigours  lit  out  and  left  all 
standing,"  said  he.  "  It  was  some  superstition 
business — I  never  got  the  hang  of  it ;  but  it  be- 
gan to  look  bad  before  the  end." 

"  I've  heard  a  different  story  about  that,"  said 
I,  "  and  I  had  better  tell  you  so.  I  heard  he 
ran  away  because  of  you." 

"  Oh  !  well,  I  suppose  he  was  ashamed  to  tell 
the  truth,"  says  Case ;  "  I  guess  he  thought  it 
silly.  And  it's  a  fact  that  I  packed  him  off. 
*  What  would  you  do,  old  man  ?  '  says  he.  '  Get,' 
says  I,  *  and  not  think  twice  about  it.'  I  was 
the  gladdest  kind  of  man  to  see  him  clear  away. 
It  ain't  my  notion  to  turn  my  back  on  a  mate 
when  he's  in  a  tight  place,  but  there  was  that 
much  trouble  in  the  village  that  I  couldn't  see 


THE  BAN  45 

where  it  might  likely  end.  I  was  a  fool  to  be  so 
much  about  with  Vigours.  They  cast  it  up  to 
me  to-day.  Didn't  you  hear  Maea — that's  the 
young  chief,  the  big  one — ripping  out  about 
*  Vika  ?  '  That  was  him  they  were  after.  They 
don't  seem  to  forget  it,  somehow." 

"  This  is  all  very  well,"  said  I,  "  but  it  don't 
tell  me  what's  wrong ;  it  don't  tell  me  what 
they're  afraid  of — what  their  idea  is." 

"  Well,  I  wish  I  knew,"  said  Case.  "  I  can't 
say  fairer  than  that." 

"  You  might  have  asked,  I  think,"  says  I. 

"And  so  I  did,"  says  he.  "But  you  must 
have  seen  for  yourself,  unless  you're  blind,  that 
the  asking  got  the  other  Avay.  I'll  go  as  far  as 
I  dare  for  another  white  man ;  but  when  I  find 
I'm  in  the  scrape  myself,  I  think  first  of  my 
own  bacon.  The  loss  of  me  is  I'm  too  good- 
natured.  And  I'll  take  the  freedom  of  telling 
you  you  show  a  queer  kind  of  gratitude  to  a 
man  who's  got  into  ail  this  mess  along  of  your 
affairs." 

"  There's  a  thing  I'm  thinking  of,"  said  I. 
"  You  were  a  fool  to  be  so  much  about  with 
Vigours.  One  comfort,  you  haven't  been  much 
about  with  me.  I  notice  you've  never  been 
inside  my  house.  Own  up  now ;  you  had  word 
of  this  before  ?  " 


46  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

"  It's  a  fact  I  haven't  been,"  said  he.  "  It 
was  an  oversight,  and  I  am  sorry  for  it,  Wilt- 
shire. But  about  coming  now,  I'll  be  quite 
plain." 

"  You  mean  you  won't  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Awfully  sorry,  old  man,  but  that's  the  size 
of  it,"  says  Case. 

"  In  short,  you're  afraid  ?  "  says  I. 

"  In  short,  I'm  afraid,"  says  he. 

"  And  I'm  still  to  be  tabooed  for  nothing  ?  "  I 
asked. 

"  I  tell  you  you're  not  tabooed,"  said  he.  "  The 
Kanakas  won't  go  near  you,  that's  all.  And 
who's  to  make  'em.  We  traders  have  a  lot  of 
gall,  I  must  say ;  we  make  these  poor  Kanakas 
take  back  their  laws,  and  take  up  their  taboos, 
and  that,  whenever  it  happens  to  suit  us.  But 
you  don't  mean  to  say  you  expect  a  law-obliging 
people  to  deal  in  your  store  whether  they  want 
to  or  not  ?  You  don't  mean  to  tell  me  you've 
got  the  gall  for  that  ?  And  if  you  had,  it  would 
be  a  queer  thing  to  propose  to  me.  I  would 
just  like  to  point  out  to  you,  Witshire,  that  I'm 
a  trader  myself." 

"  I  don't  think  I  would  talk  of  gall  if  I  was 
you,"  said  I.  "  Here's  about  what  it  comes  to, 
as  well  as  I  can  make  out :  None  of  the  people 
are  to  trade  with  me,  and  they're  all  to  trade 


THE  BAN  47 

with  you.  You're  to  have  the  copra,  and  I'm  to 
go  to  the  devil  and  shake  myself.  And  I  don't 
know  any  native,  and  you're  the  only  man  here 
worth  mention  that  speaks  English,  and  you 
have  the  gall  to  up  and  hint  to  me  my  life's  in 
danger,  and  all  you've  got  to  tell  me  is  you  don't 
know  why !  " 

"  Well,  it  is  all  I  have  to  tell  you,"  said  he. 
"  I  don't  know— I  wish  I  did." 

"  And  so  you  turn  your  back  and  leave  me  to 
myself !     Is  that  the  position  ?  "  says  I. 

"  If  you  like  to  put  it  nasty,"  says  he.  "  I 
don't  put  it  so.  I  say  merely,  '  I'm  going  to 
keep  clear  of  you ;  or,  if  I  don't  I'll  get  in 
danger  for  myself.'  " 

"  Well,"  says  I,  "  you're  a  nice  kind  of  a  white 
man  ! " 

"Oh,  I  understand;  you're  riled,"  said  he. 
*'  I  would  be  myself.     I  can  make  excuses." 

"  All  right,"  I  said,  "  go  and  make  excuses 
somewhere  else.    Here's  my  way,  there's  yours  ! " 

With  that  we  parted,  and  I  went  straight 
home,  in  a  hot  temper,  and  found  Uma  trying 
on  a  lot  of  trade  goods  like  a  baby. 

"Here,"  I  said,  "you  quit  that  foolery! 
Here's  pretty  mess  to  have  made,  as  if  I  wasn't 
bothered  enough  anyway !  And  I  thought  I  told 
vou  to  get  dinner ! " 


48  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

And  then  I  believe  I  gave  her  a  bit  of  the 
rough  side  of  my  tongue,  as  she  deserved.  She 
stood  up  at  once,  like  a  sentry  to  his  officer ;  for 
I  must  say  she  was  always  well  brought  up,  and 
had  a  great  respect  for  whites. 

"  And  now,"  says  I,  "  you  belong  round  here, 
you're  bound  to  understand  this.  What  am  I 
tabooed  for,  anyway?  Or,  if  I  ain't  tabooed, 
what  makes  the  folks  afraid  of  me  ?  " 

She  stood  and  looked  at  me  with  eyes  like 
saucers. 

"  You  no  savvy  ?  "  she  gasps  at  last. 

*'  No,"  said  I.  *'  How  would  you  expect  me 
to  ?  We  don't  have  any  such  craziness  where  I 
come  from." 

"  Ese  no  tell  you  ?  "  she  asked  again. 

{Ese  was  the  name  the  natives  had  for  Case  ; 
it  may  mean  foreign,  or  extraordinary;  or  it 
might  mean  a  mummy  apple  ;  but  most  like  it 
was  only  hi,s  own  name  misheard  and  j)ut  in  a 
Kanaka  spelling.) 

"  Not  much,"  said  I. 

"D— nEse!"  she  cried. 

You  might  think  it  funny  to  hear  this  Kanaka 
girl  come  out  with  a  big  swear.  No  such  thing. 
There  was  no  swearing  in  her — no,  nor  anger  ; 
she  was  beyond  anger,  and  meant  the  word 
simple  and  serious.    She  stood  there  straight  as 


THE  BAN  49 

she  said  it.  I  cannot  justly  say  that  I  ever  saw 
a  woman  look  like  that  before  or  after,  and  it 
struck  me  mum.  Then  she  made  a  kind  of  an 
obeisance,  but  it  was  the  proudest  kind,  and 
threw  her  hands  out  open. 

"  I  'shamed,"  she  said.  "  I  think  you  savvy. 
Ese  he  tell  me  you  savvy,  he  tell  me  you  no 
mind,  tell  me  you  love  me  too  much.  Taboo 
belong  me,"  she  said,  touching  herself  on  the 
bosom,  as  she  had  done  upon  our  wedding-night. 
"  Now  I  go  'way,  taboo  he  go  'way  too.  Then 
you  get  too  much  copra.  You  like  more  better, 
I  think.  Tofa,  alii,"  says  she  in  the  native — 
"  Farewell,  chief !  " 

"  Hold  on !  "  I  cried.  "  Don't  be  in  such  a 
hurry." 

She  looked  at  me  sidelong  with  a  smile. 
"  You  see,  you  get  copra,"  she  said,  the  same  as 
you  might  offer  candies  to  a  child. 

"  Uma,"  said  I,  "  hear  reason.  I  didn't  know, 
and  that's  a  fact ;  and  Case  seems  to  have 
played  it  pretty  mean  upon  the  pair  of  us.  But 
I  do  know  now,  and  I  don't  mind ;  I  love  you 
too  much.  You  no  go  'way,  you  no  leave  me,  I 
too  much  sorry." 

"  You  no  love  me,"  she  cried,  "  you  talk  me 
bad  words  !  "     And  she  threw  herself  in  a  corner 
of  the  floor,  and  began  to  cry. 
4 


50  IHE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

Well,  I'm  no  scholar,  but  I  wasn't  bom 
yesterday,  and  I  thought  the  worst  of  that 
trouble  was  over.  However,  there  she  lay — her 
back  turned,  her  face  to  the  wall — and  shook 
with  sobbing  like  a  little  child,  so  that  her  feet 
jumped  with  it.  It's  strange  how  it  hits  a  man 
when  he's  in  love ;  for  there's  no  use  mincing 
things ;  Kanaka  and  all,  I  was  in  love  with  her, 
or  just  as  good.  I  tried  to  take  her  hand,  but 
she  would  none  of  that.  "  Uma,"  I  said,  "there's 
no  sense  in  carrying  on  like  this.  I  want  you 
stop  here,  I  want  my  little  wifie,  I  tell  you 
true." 

"  No  tell  me  true,"  she  sobbed. 

"  All  right,"  says  I,  "  I'll  wait  till  you're 
through  with  this."  And  I  sat  right  down  be- 
side her  on  the  floor,  and  set  to  smooth  her  hair 
with  my  hand.  At  first  she  wriggled  away  when 
I  touched  her ;  then  she  seemed  to  notice  me  no 
more ;  then  her  sobs  grew  gradually  less,  and 
presently  stopped ;  and  the  next  thing  I  knew, 
she  raised  her  face  to  mine. 

"  You  tell  me  true  ?  You  like  me  stop  ?  "  she 
asked. 

"  Uma,"  I  said,  "  I  would  rather  have  you  than 
all  the  copra  in  the  South  Seas,"  which  was  a 
very  big  expression,  and  the  strangest  thing  was 
that  I  meant  it. 


THE  BAN  61 

She  threw  her  arms  about  me,  sprang  close  up, 
and  pressed  her  face  to  mine  in  the  island  way 
of  kissing,  so  that  I  was  all  wetted  with  her  tears, 
and  my  heart  went  out  to  her  wholly.  I  never 
had  anything  so  near  me  as  this  little  brown  bit 
of  a  girl.  Many  things  went  together,  and  all 
helj)ed  to  turn  my  head.  She  was  pretty  enough 
to  eat ;  it  seemed  she  was  my  only  friend  in  that 
queer  place  ;  I  was  ashamed  that  I  had  spoken 
rough  to  her :  and  she  was  a  woman,  and  my 
wife,  and  a  kind  of  a  baby  besides  that  I  was 
sorry  for ;  and  the  salt  of  her  tears  was  in  my 
mouth.  And  I  forgot  Case  and  the  natives  ;  and 
I  forgot  that  I  knew  nothing  of  the  story,  or 
only  remembered  it  to  banish  the  remembrance; 
and  I  forgot  that  I  was  to  get  no  copra,  and  so 
could  make  no  livelihood ;  and  I  forgot  my  em- 
ployers, and  the  strange  kind  of  service  I  was 
doing  them,  when  I  preferred  my  fancy  to  their 
business ;  and  I  forgot  even  that  Uma  was  no 
true  wife  of  mine,  but  just  a  maid  beguiled,  and 
that  in  a  pretty  shabby  style.  But  that  is  to 
look  too  far  on.  I  will  come  to  that  part  of  it 
next. 

It  was  late  before  we  thought  of  getting  din- 
ner. The  stove  was  out,  and  gone  stone-cold ; 
but  we  fired  up  after  awhile,  and  cooked  each  a 
dish,  helping  and  hindering  each  other,  and  mak- 


62  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

ing  a  play  of  it  like  children.  I  was  so  greedy 
of  her  nearness  that  I  sat  down  to  dinner  with 
my  lass  upon  my  knee,  made  sure  of  her  with 
one  hand,  and  ate  with  the  other.  Ay,  and  more 
than  that.  She  was  the  worst  cook  I  suppose 
God  made;  the  things  she  set  her  hand  to  it 
would  have  sickened  an  honest  horse  to  eat  of ; 
yet  I  made  my  meal  that  day  on  Uma's  cookery, 
and  can  never  call  to  mind  to  have  been  better 
pleased. 

I  didn't  pretend  to  myself,  and  I  didn't  pre- 
tend to  her.  I  saw  I  was  clean  gone  ;  and  if  she 
was  to  make  a  fool  of  me,  she  must.  And  I  sup- 
pose it  was  this  that  set  her  talking,  for  now  she 
made  sure  that  we  were  friends.  A  lot  she  told 
me,  sitting  in  my  lap  and  eating  my  dish,  as  I 
ate  hers,  from  foolery — a  lot  about  herself  and 
her  mother  and  Case,  all  which  would  be  very 
tedious,  and  fill  sheets  if  I  set  it  down  in  Beach 
de  Mar,  but  which  I  must  give  a  hint  of  in  plain 
English,  and  one  thing  about  myself,  whiph  had 
a  very  big  effect  on  my  concerns,  as  you  are  soon 
to  hear. 

It  seems  she  was  born  in  one  of  the  Line 
Islands ;  had  been  only  two  or  three  years  in 
these  parts,  where  she  had  come  with  a  white 
man,  who  was  married  to  her  mother  and  then 
died ;  and  only  the  one  year  in  Falesa.     Before 


THE  BAN  53 

that  they  had  been  a  good  deal  on  the  move, 
trekking  about  after  the  white  man,  who  was  one 
of  those  rolling  stones  that  keep  going  round 
after  a  soft  job.  They  talk  about  looking  for 
gold  at  the  end  of  a  rainbow  ;  but  if  a  man  wants 
an  employment  that'll  last  him  till  he  dies,  let 
him  start  out  on  the  soft-job  hunt.  There's  meat 
and  drink  in  it  too,  and  beer  and  skittles,  for  you 
never  hear  of  them  starving,  and  rarely  see  them 
sober;  and  as  for  steady  sport,  cock-fighting 
isn't  in  the  same  county  with  it.  Anyway,  this 
beach-comber  carried  the  woman  and  her  daugh- 
ter all  over  the  shop,  but  mostly  to  out-of-the- 
way  islands,  where  there  were  no  j^olice,  and  he 
thought,  perhaps,  the  soft  job  hung  out.  I've 
my  own  view  of  this  old  party ;  but  I  was  just 
as  glad  he  had  kept  Uma  clear  of  Apia  and 
Papeete  and  these  flash  towns.  At  last  he 
struck  Falealii  on  this  island,  got  some  trade — 
the  Lord  knows  how ! — muddled  it  all  away  in 
the  usual  style,  and  died  worth  next  to  nothing, 
bar  a  bit  of  land  at  Falesa  that  he  had  got  for  a 
bad  debt,  which  was  what  put  it  in  the  minds  of 
the  mother  and  daughter  to  come  there  and  live. 
It  seems  Case  encouraged  them  all  he  could,  and 
helped  to  get  their  house  built.  He  was  very 
kind  those  days,  and  gave  Uma  trade,  and  there 
is  no  doubt  he  had  his  eye  on  her  from  the  be- 


64:  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

ginning.  However,  they  had  scarce  settled, 
when  up  turned  a  young  man,  a  native,  and 
wanted  to  marry  her.  He  was  a  small  chief,  and 
had  some  fine  mats  and  old  songs  in  his  family, 
and  was  "very  pretty,"  Uma  said;  and,  alto- 
gether, it  was  an  extraordinar}^  match  for  a  pen- 
niless girl  and  an  out-islander. 

At  the  first  word  of  this  I  got  downright  sick 
with  jealousy. 

"  And  you  mean  to  say  you  would  have  mar- 
ried him  ?  "  I  cried. 

"  loe,  yes,"  said  she.     "  I  like  too  much  !  " 

"  Well !  "  I  said.  "  And  suppose  I  had  come 
round  after  ?  " 

"  I  like  you  more  better  now,"  said  she.  "  But 
suppose  I  marry  loane,  I  one  good  wife.  I  no 
common  Kanaka.     Good  girl ! "  says  she. 

Well,  I  had  to  be  pleased  with  that ;  but  I 
promise  you  I  didn't  care  about  the  business  one 
little  bit.  Aild  I  liked  the  end  of  that  yarn  no 
better  than  the  beginning.  For  it  seems  this 
proposal  of  marriage  was  the  start  of  all  the 
trouble.  It  seems,  before  that,  Uma  and  her 
mother  had  been  looked  down  upon,  of  course, 
for  kinless  folk  and  out-islanders,  but  nothing 
to  hurt ;  and,  even  when  loane  came  forward, 
there  was  less  trouble  at  first  than  might  have 
been  looked  for.      And  then,  all  of  a  sudden, 


THE  BAN  55 

about  six  months  before  my  coming,  loane 
backed  out  and  left  that  part  of  the  island, 
and  from  that  day  to  this  Uma  and  her  mother 
had  found  themselves  alone.  None  called  at 
their  house — none  spoke  to  them  on  the  roads. 
If  they  went  to  church,  the  other  women  drew 
their  mats  away  and  left  them  in  a  clear  place 
by  themselves.  It  was  a  regular  excommunica- 
tion, like  what  you  read  of  in  the  Middle  Ages  ; 
and  the  cause  or  sense  of  it  beyond  guessing.  It 
was  some  talo  pepelo,  Uma  said,  some  lie,  some 
calumny ;  and  all  she  knew  of  it  was  that  the 
girls  who  had  been  jealous  of  her  luck  with 
loane  used  to  twit  her  with  his  desertion,  and  cry 
out,  when  they  met  her  alone  in  the  woods,  that 
she  would  never  be  married.  "  They  tell  me  no 
man  he  marry  me.    He  too  much  'fraid,"  she  said. 

The  only  soul  that  came  about^hem  after 
this  desertion  was  Master  Case.  Even  he  was 
chary  of  showing  himself,  and  turned  up  mostly 
by  night ;  and  pretty  soon  he  began  to  table  his 
cards  and  make  up  to  Uma.  I  was  still  sore 
about  loane,  and  when  Case  turned  up  in 
the  same  line  of  business  I  cut  up  downright 
rough. 

"Well,"  I  said,  sneering,  "and  I  suppose 
you  thought  Case  '  very  pretty  '  and  *  liked  too 
much'r* 


IP 

56  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

"Now  you  talk  silly,"  said  she.  "  White  man, 
he  come  here,  I  marry  him  all-a-same  Kanaka  ; 
very  well  then,  he  marry  me  all-e-same  white 
woman.  Suppose  he  no  marry,  he  go  'way, 
woman  he  stop.  All-e-same  thief,  empty  hand, 
Tonga-heart — no  can  love  !  Now  you  come 
marry  me.  You  big  heart — you  no  'shamed 
island-girl.  That  thing  I  love  you  far  too  much. 
I  proud." 

I  don't  know  that  ever  I  felt  sicker  all  the 
days  of  my  life.  I  laid  down  my  fork,  and  I 
put  away  "  the  island-girl ; "  I  didn't  seem 
somehow  to  have  any  use  for  either,  and  I  went 
and  walked  up  and  down  in  the  house,  and  Uma 
followed  me  with  her  eyes,  for  she  was  troubled, 
and  small  wonder !  But  troubled  was  no  word 
for  it  with  me.  I  so  wanted,  and  so  feared,  to 
make  a  clean  breast  of  the  sweep  that  I  had  been. 

And  just  then  there  came  a  sound  of  singing 
out  of  the  sea ;  it  sprang  up  suddenly  clear  and 
near,  as  the  boat  turned  the  headland,  and  Uma, 
running  to  the  window,  cried  out  it  was  "  Misi  '* 
come  upon  his  rounds. 

I  thought  it  was  a  strange  thing  I  should  be 
glad  to  have  a  missionary ;  but,  if  it  was  strange, 
it  was  still  true. 

"  Uma,"  said  I,  "  you  stop  here  in  this  room, 
and  don't  budge  a  foot  out  of  it  till  I  come  back.'' 


CHAPTEK  HX 

THE     MISSIONARY 

AS  I  came  out  on  tlie  veranda,  the  mis- 
sion-boat was  shooting  for  the  month  of 
the  river.  She  was  a  long  whale-boat 
painted  white;  a  bit  of  an  awning  astern;  a 
native  pastor  crouched  on  the  wedge  of  poop, 
steering;  some  four-and-twenty  paddles  flash- 
ing and  dipping,  true  to  the  boat-song ;  and  the 
missionary  under  the  awning,  in  his  white 
clothes,  reading  in  a  book ;  and  set  him  up  !  It 
was  pretty  to  see  and  hear ;  there's  no  smarter 
sight  in  the  islands  than  a  missionary  boat  with 
a  good  crew  and  a  good  pipe  to  them ;  and  I 
considered  it  for  half  a  minute,  with  a  bit  of 
envy  perhaps,  and  then  strolled  down  toward 
the  river. 

From  the  opposite  side  there  was  another 
man  aiming  for  the  same  place,  but  he  ran  and 
got  there  first.  It  was  Case  ;  doubtless  his  idea 
was  to  keep  me  apart  from  the  missionary,  who 
might  serve  me  as  interpreter;  but  my  mind 
was  upon  other  things.     I  was  thinking  how  he 


58  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

had  jockeyed  us  about  the  marriage,  and  tried 
his  hand  on  Uma  before  ;  and  at  the  sight  of 
him  rage  flew  into  my  nostrils. 

"  Get  out  of  that,  you  low,  swindling  thief !  " 
I  cried. 

"  "What's  that  you  say  ?  "  says  he. 

I  gave  him  the  word  again,  and  rammed  it 
down  with  a  good  oath.  "  And  if  ever  I  catch 
you  within  six  fathoms  of  my  house,"  I  cried, 
"  I'll  clap  a  bullet  in  your  measly  carcass." 

"  You  must  do  as  you  like  about  your  house," 
said  he,  "where  I  told  you  I  have  no  thought  of 
going  ;  but  this  is  a  public  place." 

"It's  a  place  where  I  have  private  business," 
said  I.  "  I  have  no  idea  of  a  hound  like  you 
eavesdropping,  and  I  give  you  notice  to  clear 
out." 

"  I  don't  take  it,  though,"  says  Case. 

"  I'll  show  you,  then,"  said  I. 

"  We'll  have  to  see  about  that,"  said  he. 

He  was  quick  with  his  hands,  but  he  had 
neither  the  height  nor  the  weight,  being  a 
flimsy  creature  alongside  a  man  like  me,  and, 
besides,  I  was  blazing  to  that  height  of  wrath 
that  I  could  have  bit  into  a  chisel.  I  gave  him 
first  the  one  and  then  the  other,  so  that  I  could 
hear  his  head  rattle  and  crack,  and  he  went 
down  straight. 


THE  MISSIONARY  59 

"Have  you  liad  enough?"  cries  I.  But  lie 
only  looked  up  white  and  blank,  and  the  blood 
spread  upon  his  face  like  wine  upon  a  napkin. 
*'  Have  you  had  enough  ? "  I  cried  again. 
"  Speak  up,  and  don't  lie  malingering  there,  or 
I'll  take  my  feet  to  you." 

He  sat  up  at  that,  and  held  his  head — by  the 
look  of  him  you  could  see  it  was  spinning — and 
the  blood  poured  on  his  pajamas. 

"I've  had  enough  for  this  time,"  says  he,  and 
he  got  up  staggering,  and  went  off  by  the  way 
that  he  had  come. 

The  boat  was  close  in  ;  I  saw  the  missionary 
had  laid  his  book  to  one  side,  and  I  smiled  to 
myself.  "  He'll  know  I'm  a  man,  anyway," 
thinks  I. 

This  was  the  first  time,  in  all  my  years  in  the 
Pacific,  I  had  ever  exchanged  two  words  with 
any  missionary,  let  alone  asked  one  for  a  favor. 
I  didn't  like  the  lot,  no  trader  does ;  they  look 
down  upon  us,  and  make  no  concealment ;  and, 
besideSjthey're  partly  Kanakaized,  and  suck  up 
with  natives  instead  of  with  other  white  men 
like  themselves.  I  had  on  a  rig  of  clean,  striped 
pajamas — for,  of  course,  I  had  dressed  decent 
to  go  before  the  chiefs ;  but  when  I  saw  the 
missionary  step  out  of  this  boat  in  the  regular 
uniform,  white  duck  clothes,  pith  helmet,  white 


60  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESJC 

sliirt  and  tie,  and  yellow  boots  to  his  feet,  I 
could  have  bunged  stones  at  him.  As  he  came 
nearer,  queering  me  pretty  curious  (because  of 
the  fight,  I  suppose),  I  saw  he  looked  mortal 
sick,  for  the  truth  was  he  had  a  fever  on,  and 
had  just  had  a  chill  in  the  boat. 

''  Mr.  Tarleton,  I  believe?  "  says  I,  for  I  had 
got  his  name. 

"And  you,  I  suppose,  are  the  new  trader?" 
says  he. 

"  I  want  to  tell  you  first  that  I  don't  hold 
with  missions,"  I  went  on,  "  and  that  I  think 
you  and  the  likes  of  you  do  a  sight  of  harm, 
filling  up  the  natives  with  old  wives'  tales  and 
bumptiousness." 

"You  are  perfectly  entitled  to  your  opinions,'* 
says  he,  looking  a  bit  ugly,  "  but  I  have  no  call 
to  hear  them." 

"It  so  happens  that  you've  got  to  hear 
them,"  I  said.  "  I'm  no  missionary,  nor  mis- 
sionary lover ;  I'm  no  Kanaka,  nor  favorer  of 
Kanakas — I'm  just  a  trader;  I'm  just  a  common 
low  God-damned  white  man  and  British  sub- 
ject, the  sort  you  would  like  to  wipe  your  boots 
on.     I  hope  that's  plain  !  " 

"Yes,  my  man,"  said  he.  "It's  more  plain 
than  creditable.  When  you  are  sober,  you'll  be 
sorry  for  this." 


I'm   no   MISSION'AKY,    NOU   MISSIONAKY    LOVEK. 


THE  MISSIONARY  61 

He  tried  to  pass  on,  but  I  stopped  him  with 
my  hand.  The  Kanakas  were  beginning  to 
growl.  Guess  they  didn't  like  my  tone,  for  I 
spoke  to  that  man  as  free  as  I  would  to  you. 

"Now,  you  can't  say  I've  deceived  you,"  said 
I,  "  and  I  can  go  on.  I  want  a  service — I  want 
two  services,  in  fact ;  and,  if  you  care  to  give 
me  them,  I'll  perhaps  take  more  stock  in  what 
you  call  your  Christianity." 

He  was  silent  for  a  moment.  Then  he  smiled. 
*'  You  are  rather  a  strange  sort  of  man,"  says 
he. 

"  I'm  the  sort  of  man  God  made  me,"  says  I. 
"  I  don't  set  up  to  be  a  gentleman,"  I  said. 

"  I  am  not  quite  so  sure,"  said  he.  "  And 
what  can  I  do  for  you,  Mr. ?  " 

"  Wiltshire,"  I  says,  *'  though  I'm  mostly 
called  "Welsher ;  but  Wiltshire  is  the  way  it's 
spelt,  if  the  people  on  the  beach  could  only  get 
their  tongues  about  it.  And  what  do  I  want  ? 
Well,  I'U  teU  you  the  first  thing.  I'm  what  you 
call  a  sinner — what  I  call  a  sweep — and  I  want 
you  to  help  me  make  it  up  to  a  person  I've  de- 
ceived." 

He  turned  and  spoke  to  his  crew  in  the  native. 
**  And  now  I  am  at  your  service,"  said  he,  "  but 
only  for  the  time  my  crew  are  dining.  I  must 
be  much  farther  down  the  coast  before  night.     I 


62  TEE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

was  delayed  at  Papa-Malulu  till  this  morning, 
and  I  have  an  engagement  in  Fale-alii  to-morrow 
night." 

I  led  the  way  to  my  house  in  silence,  and 
rather  pleased  with  myself  for  the  way  I  had 
managed  the  talk,  for  I  like  a  man  to  keep  his 
self-respect. 

"  I  was  sorry  to  see  you  fighting,"  says  he. 

"Oh,  that's  part  of  the  yam  I  want  to  tell 
you,"  I  said.  "That's  service  number  two. 
After  you've  heard  it  you'll  let  me  know  whether 
you're  sorry  or  not." 

We  walked  right  in  through  the  store,  and  I 
was  surprised  to  find  Uma  had  cleared  away  the 
dinner  things.  This  was  so  unlike  her  ways 
that  I  saw  she  had  done  it  out  of  gratitude,  and 
liked  her  the  better.  She  and  Mr.  Tarleton 
called  each  other  by  name,  and  he  was  very  civil 
to  her  seemingly.  But  I  thought  little  of  that ; 
they  can  always  find  civility  for  a  Kanaka,  it's 
us  white  men  they  lord  it  over.  Besides,  I  didn't 
want  much  Tarleton  just  then.  I  was  going  to 
do  my  pitch. 

"  Uma,"  said  I,  "  give  us  your  marriage  cer- 
tificate." She  looked  put  out.  "  Come,"  said 
I,  "  you  can  trust  me.     Hand  it  up." 

She  had  it  about  her  person,  as  usual ;  I  be- 
lieve she  thought  it  was  a  pass  to  heaven,  and  if 


THE  MISSIONARY  63 

she  died  without  having  it  handy  she  would  go 
to  hell.  I  couldn't  see  where  she  put  it  the  first 
time,  I  couldn't  see  now  where  she  took  it  from  ; 
it  seemed  to  jump  into  her  hand  like  that 
Blavatsky  business  in  the  papers.  But  it's  the 
same  way  with  all  island  women,  and  I  guess 
they're  taught  it  when  young. 

"Now,"  said  I,  with  the  certificate  in  my 
hand,  "  I  was  married  to  this  girl  by  Black  Jack, 
the  negro.  The  certificate  was  wrote  by  Case, 
and  it's  a  dandy  piece  of  literature,  I  promise 
you.  Since  then  I've  found  that  there's  a  kind 
of  cry  in  the  place  against  this  wife  of  mine,  and 
so  long  as  I  keep  her  I  cannot  trade.  Now, 
what  would  any  man  do  in  my  place,  if  he  was  a 
man  ?  "  I  said.  "  The  first  thing  he  Avould  do  is 
this,  I  guess."  And  I  took  and  tore  up  the  cer- 
tificate and  bunged  the  pieces  on  the  floor. 

"  Aue !  "  ^  cried  Uma,  and  began  to  clap  her 
hands ;  but  I  caught  one  of  them  in  mine. 

"And  the  second  thing  that  he  would  do," 
said  I,  "if  he  was  what  I  would  call  a  man  and 
you  would  call  a  man,  Mr.  Tarleton,  is  to  bring 
the  girl  right  before  you  or  any  other  missionary, 
and  to  up  and  say :  '  I  was  wrong  married  to 
this  wife  of  mine,  but  I  think  a  heap  of  her,  and 
now  I  want  to  be  married  to  her  right.'     Fire 

*  Alas  I 


64  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

away,  Mr.  Tarleton.  And  I  guess  you'd  better 
do  it  in  native ;  it'll  please  the  old  lady,"  I 
said,  giving  her  the  proper  name  of  a  man's 
wife  upon  the  spot. 

So  we  had  in  two  of  the  crew  for  to  witness,  and 
were  spliced  in  our  own  house  ;  and  the  parson 
prayed  a  good  bit,  I  must  say — but  not  so  long 
as  some — and  shook  hands  with  the  pair  of  us. 

"Mr.  "Wiltshire,"  he  says,  when  he  had  made 
out  the  lines  and  packed  off  the  witnesses,  "  I 
have  to  thank  you  for  a  very  lively  pleasure.  I 
have  rarely  performed  the  marriage  ceremony 
with  more  grateful  emotions." 

That  was  what  you  would  call  talking.  He 
was  going  on,  besides,  with  more  of  it,  and  I 
was  ready  for  as  much  taffy  as  he  had  in  stock, 
for  I  felt  good.  But  Uma  had  been  taken  up 
with  something  half  through  the  marriage,  and 
cut  straight  in. 

"  How  your  hand  he  get  hurt  ?  "  she  asked. 

*'  You  ask  Case's  head,  old  lady,"  says  I. 

She  jumped  with  joy,  and  sang  out. 

"You  haven't  made  much  of  a  Christian  of 
this  one,"  says  I  to  Mr.  Tarleton. 

"  We  didn't  think  her  one  of  our  worst,"  says 
he,  "  when  she  was  at  Fale-alii ;  and  if  Uma 
bears  malice  I  shall  be  tempted  to  fancy  she  has 
good  cause." 


THE  MISSIONARY  65 

"  Well,  there  we  are  at  service  number  two/' 
said  I.  "I  want  to  tell  you  our  yarn,  and  see  if 
you  can  let  a  little  daylight  in." 

"Is  it  long?  "he  asked. 

"  Yes,"  I  cried ;  "  it's  a  goodish  bit  of  a 
yarn ! " 

"  Well,  I'll  give  you  all  the  time  I  can  spare," 
says  he,  looking  at  his  watch.  "  But  I  must  tell 
you  fairly,  I  haven't  eaten  since  five  this  morn- 
ing, and,  unless  you  can  let  me  have  something, 
I  am  not  likely  to  eat  again  before  seven  or  eight 
to-night." 

"  By  God,  we'll  give  you  dinner  !  "  I  cried. 

I  was  a  little  caught  up  at  my  swearing, 
just  when  all  was  going  straight ;  and  so 
was  the  missionary,  I  suppose,  but  he  made  be- 
lieve to  look  out  of  the  window,  and  thanked 
us. 

So  we  ran  him  up  a  bit  of  a  meal.  I  was 
bound  to  let  the  old  lady  have  a  hand  in  it,  to 
show  off,  so  I  deputized  her  to  brew  the  tea.  I 
don't  think  I  ever  met  such  tea  as  she  turned 
out.  But  that  was  not  the  worst,  for  she  got 
round  with  the  salt-box,  which  she  considered 
an  extra  European  touch,  and  turned  my  stew 
into  sea-water.  Altogether,  Mr.  Tarleton  had 
a  devil  of  a  dinner  of  it ;  but  he  had  plenty  of 
entertainment  by  the  way,  for  all  the  while  that 
5 


66  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

we  were  cooking,  and  afterward,  when  he  was 
making  believe  to  eat,  I  kept  posting  him  up  on 
Master  Case  and  the  beach  of  Falesa,  and  he 
putting  questions  that  showed  he  was  following 
close. 

"  Well,"  said  he  at  last,  "I  am  afraid  you 
have  a  dangerous  enemy.  This  man  Case  is 
very  clever  and  seems  really  wicked.  I  must 
tell  you  I  have  had  my  eye  on  him  for  nearly 
a  year,  and  have  rather  had  the  worst  of  our 
encounters.  About  the  time  when  the  last  rep- 
resentative of  your  firm  ran  so  suddenly  away, 
I  had  a  letter  from  Namu,  the  native  pastor, 
begging  me  to  come  to  Falesa  at  my  earliest 
convenience,  as  his  flock  were  all  'adopting 
Catholic  practices.'  I  had  great  confidence 
in  Namu ;  I  fear  it  only  shows  how  easily  we 
are  deceived.  No  one  could  hear  him  preach 
and  not  be  persuaded  he  was  a  man  of  extraor- 
dinary parts.  All  our  islanders  easily  acquire 
a  kind  of  eloquence,  and  can  roll  out  and  illus- 
trate, with  a  great  deal  of  vigor  and  fancy, 
second-hand  sermons  ;  but  Namu's  sermons  are 
his  own,  and  I  cannot  deny  that  I  have  found 
them  means  of  grace.  Moreover,  he  has  a  keen 
curiosity  in  secular  things,  does  not  fear  work, 
is  clever  at  carpentering,  and  has  made  himself 
so  much  respected  among  the  neighboring  pas- 


THE  MISSIONARY  67 

tors  that  we  call  him,  in  a  jest  which  is  half 
serious,  the  Bishop  of  the  East.  In  short,  I 
was  proud  of  the  man;  all  the  more  puzzled 
by  his  letter,  and  took  an  occasion  to  come 
this  way.  The  morning  before  my  arrival.  Vig- 
ours had  been  sent  on  board  the  Lion,  and 
Namu  was  perfectly  at  his  ease,  apparently 
ashamed  of  his  letter,  and  quite  unwilling  to 
explain  it.  This,  of  course,  I  could  not  allow, 
and  he  ended  by  confessing  that  he  had  been 
much  concerned  to  find  his  people  using  the  sign 
of  the  cross,  but  since  he  had  learned  the  ex- 
planation his  mind  was  satisfied.  For  Vigours 
had  the  Evil  Eye,  a  common  thing  in  a  country 
of  Europe  called  Italy,  where  men  were  often 
struck  dead  by  that  kind  of  devil,  and  it  appeared 
the  sign  of  the  cross  was  a  charm  against  its 
power. 

** '  And  I  explain  it,  Misi,'  said  Namu,  '  in  this 
way  :  the  country  in  Europe  is  a  Popey  country, 
and  the  devil  of  the  Evil  Eye  may  be  a  Catholic 
devil,  or,  at  least,  used  to  Catholic  ways.  So 
then  I  reasoned  thus :  if  this  sign  of  the  cross 
were  used  in  a  Popey  manner  it  would  be  sinful, 
but  when  it  is  used  only  to  protect  men  from 
a  devil,  which  is  a  thing  harmless  in  itself, 
the  sign  too  must  be  harmless.  For  the  sign 
is  neither  good  nor  bad.    But  if  the  bottle  be  full 


68  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

of  gin,  the  gin  is  bad ;  and  if  the  sign  be  made  in 
idolatry  bad,  so  is  the  idolatry.'  And,  very  like 
a  native  pastor,  he  had  a  text  apposite  about  the 
casting  out  of  devils. 

"  *  And  who  has  been  telling  you  about  the 
Evil  Eye  ? '  I  asked. 

"  He  admitted  it  was  Case.  Now,  I  am  afraid 
you  will  think  me  very  narrow,  Mr.  Wiltshire, 
but  I  must  tell  you  I  was  displeased,  and  can- 
not think  a  trader  at  all  a  good  man  to  advise  or 
have  an  influence  upon  my  pastors.  And,  be- 
sides, there  had  been  some  flying  talk  in  the 
country  of  old  Adams  and  his  being  poisoned,  to 
which  I  had  paid  no  great  heed ;  but  it  came 
back  to  me  at  the  moment. 

*'  *  And  is  this  Case  a  man  of  a  sanctified  life  ?  * 
I  asked. 

*'He  admitted  he  was  not ;  for,  though  he  did 
not  drink,  he  was  profligate  with  women,  and 
had  no  religion. 

"  '  Then,'  said  I,  *  I  think  the  less  you  have 
to  do  with  him  the  better.' 

"  But  it  is  not  easy  to  have  the  last  word  with 
a  man  like  Namu.  He  was  ready  in  a  moment 
with  an  illustration.  '  Misi,'  said  he,  *  you  have 
told  me  there  were  wise  men,  not  pastors,  not 
even  holy,  who  knew  many  things  useful  to  be 
taught — about  trees,  for  instance,   and  beasts, 


THE  MISSIONARY  C9 

and  to  print  books,  and  about  the  stones  that 
are  burned  to  make  knives  of.  Such  men  teach 
you  in  your  college,  and  you  learn  from  them, 
but  take  care  not  to  learn  to  be  unholy.  Misi, 
Case  is  my  college.' 

"  I  knew  not  what  to  say.  Mr.  Vigours  had 
evidently  been  driven  out  of  Falesa  by  the 
machinations  of  Case  and  with  something  not 
very  unlike  the  collusion  of  my  pastor.  I  called 
to  mind  it  was  Namu  who  had  reassured  me 
about  Adams  and  traced  the  rumor  to  the  ill- 
will  of  the  priest.  And  I  saw  I  must  inform 
myself  more  thoroughly  from  an  impartial 
source.  There  is  an  old  rascal  of  a  chief  here, 
Faiaso,  whom  I  dare  say  you  saw  to-day  at  the 
council ;  he  has  been  all  his  life  turbulent  and 
shy,  a  great  fomenter  of  rebellions,  and  a  thorn 
in  the  side  of  the  mission  and  the  island.  For 
all  that  he  is  very  shrewd,  and,  except  in  politics 
or  about  his  own  misdemeanors,  a  teller  of  the 
truth.  I  went  to  his  house,  told  him  what  I  had 
heard,  and  besought  him  to  be  frank.  I  do  not 
think  I  had  ever  a  more  painful  interview.  Per- 
haps you  will  understand  me,  Mr.  Wiltshire,  if  I 
tell  you  that  I  am  perfectly  serious  in  these  old 
wives'  tales  with  which  you  reproached  me,  and 
as  anxious  to  do  well  for  these  islands  as  you 
can  be  to  please  and  to  protect  your  pretty  wife. 


70  THE  BEAOII  OF  F ALES  A 

And  you  are  to  remember  that  I  thought  Namu 
a  paragon,  and  was  proud  of  the  man  as  one  of 
the  first  ripe  fruits  of  the  mission.  And  now  I 
was  informed  that  he  had  fallen  in  a  sort  of  de- 
pendence upon  Case.  The  beginning  of  it  was 
not  corrupt ;  it  began,  doubtless,  in  fear  and  re- 
spect, produced  by  trickery  and  pretence  ;  but  I 
was  shocked  to  find  that  another  element  had 
been  lately  added,  that  Namu  helped  himself  in 
the  store,  and  was  believed  to  be  deep  in  Case's 
debt.  Wliatever  the  trader  said,  that  Namu  be- 
lieved with  trembling.  He  was  not  alone  in 
this  ;  many  in  the  village  lived  in  a  similar  sub- 
jection ;  but  Namu's  case  was  the  most  influen- 
tial, it  was  through  Namu  that  Case  had  wrought 
most  evil ;  and  with  a  certain  follomng  among 
the  chiefs,  and  the  pastor  in  his  pocket,  the  man 
was  as  good  as  master  of  the  village.  You  know 
something  of  Vigours  and  Adams,  but  perhaps 
you  have  never  heard  of  old  Underhill,  Adams's 
predecessor.  He  was  a  quiet,  mild  old  fellow, 
I  remember,  and  we  were  told  he  had  died  sud- 
denly :  white  men  die  very  suddenly  in  Falesa. 
The  truth,  as  I  now  heard  it,  made  my  blood  run 
cold.  It  seems  he  was  struck  with  a  general 
palsy,  all  of  him  dead  but  one  eye,  which  he 
continually  winked.  "Word  was  started  that  the 
helpless  old  man  was  now  a  devil,  and  this  vile 


THE  MISSIONARY  71 

fellow  Case  worked  upon  the  natives'  fears, 
wliicli  lie  professed  to  share,  and  pretended  he 
durst  not  go  into  the  house  alone.  At  last  a 
grave  was  dug,  and  the  living  body  buried  at  the 
far  end  of  the  village.  Namu,  my  pastor,  whom 
I  had  helped  to  educate,  offered  up  a  prayer  at 
the  hateful  scene. 

"  I  felt  myself  in  a  very  difficult  position. 
Perhaps  it  was  my  duty  to  have  denounced 
Namu  and  had  him  deposed.  Perliaps  I  think 
so  now,  but  at  the  time  it  seemed  less  clear.  He 
had  a  great  influence,  it  might  prove  greater 
than  mine.  The  natives  are  prone  to  supersti- 
tion ;  perhaps  by  stirring  them  up  I  might  but 
ingrain  and  spread  these  dangerous  fancies. 
And  Namu  besides,  apart  from  this  novel  and 
accursed  influence,  was  a  good  pastor,  an  able 
man,  and  spiritually  minded.  Where  should  I 
look  for  a  better?  How  was  I  to  find  as  good  ? 
At  that  moment,  with  Namu's  failure  fresh  in  my 
view,  the  work  of  my  life  appeared  a  mockery  ; 
hope  was  dead  in  me.  I  would  rather  repair 
such  tools  as  I  had  than  go  abroad  in  quest  of 
others  that  must  certainly  prove  worse  ;  and  a 
scandal  is,  at  the  best,  a  thing  to  be  avoided 
when  humanly  possible.  Eight  or  wrong,  then, 
I  determined  on  a  quiet  course.  All  that  night 
I   denounced    and    reasoned    with    the    erring 


72  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

pastor,  twitted  him  with  his  ignorance  and  want 
of  faith,  twitted  him  with  his  wretched  attitude, 
making  clean  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  platter, 
callously  helping  at  a  murder,  childishly  flying 
in  excitement  about  a  few  childish,  unnecessary, 
and  inconvenient  gestures  ;  and  long  before  day 
I  had  him  on  his  knees  and  bathed  in  the  tears 
of  what  seemed  a  genuine  repentance.  On  Sun- 
day I  took  the  pulpit  in  the  morning,  and 
preached  from  First  Kings,  nineteenth,  on  the 
fire,  the  earthquake,  and  the  voice,  distinguish- 
ing the  true  spiritual  power,  and  referring  with 
such  plainness  as  I  dared  to  recent  events  in 
Falesa.  The  effect  produced  was  great,  and  it 
was  much  increased  when  Namu  rose  in  his  turn 
and  confessed  that  he  had  been  wanting  in  faith 
and  conduct,  and  was  convinced  of  sin.  So  far, 
then,  all  was  well ;  but  there  was  one  unf  oiiunate 
circumstance.  It  was  nearing  the  time  of  our 
*  May  '  in  the  island,  when  the  native  contribu- 
tions to  the  missions  are  received  ;  it  fell  in  my 
duty  to  make  a  notification  on  the  subject,  and 
this  gave  my  enemy  his  chance,  by  which  he  was 
not  slow  to  profit. 

"  News  of  the  whole  proceedings  must  have 
been  carried  to  Case  as  soon  as  chui'ch  was  over, 
and  the  same  afternoon  he  made  an  occasion  to 
meet  me  in  the  midst  of  the  village.     He  came 


THE  MISSIONARY  73 

up  with  so  much  intentness  and  animosity  that 
I  felt  it  would  be  damaging  to  avoid  him. 

"  *  So,'  says  he,  in  native,  '  here  is  the  holy 
man.  He  has  been  preaching  against  me,  but 
that  was  not  in  his  heart.  He  has  been  preach- 
ing upon  the  love  of  God ;  but  that  was  not  in 
his  heart,  it  was  between  his  teeth.  Will  you 
know  what  was  in  his  heart  ? '  cries  he.  '  I  will 
show  it  to  you ! '  And,  making  a  snatch  at  my 
hand,  he  made  believe  to  pluck  out  a  dollar,  and 
held  it  in  the  air. 

"  There  went  that  rumor  through  the  crowd 
with  which  Polynesians  receive  a  prodigy.  As 
for  myself,  I  stood  amazed.  The  thing  was  a 
common  conjuring  trick  which  I  have  seen  per- 
formed at  home  a  score  of  times  ;  but  how  was  I 
to  convince  the  villagers  of  that  ?  I  wished  I 
had  learned  legerdemain  instead  of  Hebrew,  that 
I  might  have  paid  the  fellow  out  with  his  own 
coin.  But  there  I  was ;  I  could  not  stand  there 
silent,  and  the  best  I  could  find  to  say  was  weak. 

"  '  I  will  trouble  you  not  to  lay  hands  on  me 
again,'  said  I. 

"  '  I  have  no  such  thought,'  said  he,  '  nor  will 
I  deprive  you  of  your  dollar.  Here  it  is,'  he 
said,  and  flung  it  at  my  feet.  I  am  told  it  lay 
where  it  fell  three  days. 

"'I  must  say  it  was  well  played,'  said  I. 


74  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

"  Oh !  lie  is  clever,"  said  Mr.  Tarleton,  "  and 
you  can  now  see  for  yourself  how  dangerous.  He 
was  a  party  to  the  horrid  death  of  the  paralytic ; 
he  is  accused  of  poisoning  Adams ;  he  drove 
Vigours  out  of  the  place  by  lies  that  might  have 
led  to  murder ;  and  there  is  no  question  but  he 
has  now  made  up  his  mind  to  rid  himself  of  you. 
How  he  means  to  try  we  have  no  guess ;  only  be 
sure,  it's  something  new.  There  is  no  end  to 
his  readiness  and  invention." 

*'  He  gives  himself  a  sight  of  trouble,"  says  I. 
"And  after  all,  Avhat  for?  " 

"  AVhy,  how  many  tons  of  copra  may  they  make 
in  this  district  ?  "  asked  the  missionary. 

"  I  dare  say  as  much  as  sixty  tons,"  says  I. 

"  And  what  is  the  profit  to  the  local  trader  ?  " 
he  asked. 

"  You  may  call  it  three  pounds,"  said  I. 

"  Then  you  can  reckon  for  yourself  how  much 
he  does  it  for,"  said  Mr.  Tarleton.  "  But  the 
more  important  thing  is  to  defeat  him.  It  is 
clear  he  spread  some  report  against  Uma,  in 
order  to  isolate  and  have  his  wicked  will  of  her. 
Failing  of  that,  and  seeing  a  new  rival  come  upon 
the  scene,  he  used  her  in  a  different  way.  Now, 
the  first  point  to  find  out  is  about  Namu.  Uma, 
when  people  began  to  leave  you  and  your  mother 
alone,  what  did  Namu  do  ?  " 


"\VI1>L   YOU   KNOW    WUAT   WAS   IN   HIS   HEART?"   CRIED  HE. 


THE  MISSIONARY  T5 

"  Stop  away  all-a-same,"  says  Uma. 

"  I  fear  the  dog  has  returned  to  his  vomit," 
said  Mr.  Tarleton.  "  And  now  what  am  I  to  do 
for  you  ?  I  will  speak  to  Namu,  I  will  warn  him 
he  is  observed  ;  it  will  be  strange  if  he  allow 
anything  to  go  on  amiss  when  he  is  put  upon 
his  guard.  At  the  same  time,  this  precaution 
may  fail,  and  then  you  must  turn  elsewhere. 
You  have  two  people  at  hand  to  whom  you 
might  apply.  There  is,  first  of  all,  the  priest, 
who  might  protect  you  by  the  Catholic  interest ; 
they  are  a  wretchedly  small  body,  but  they  count 
two  chiefs.  And  then  there  is  old  Faiaso.  Ah  ! 
if  it  had  been  some  years  ago  you  would  have 
needed  no  one  else ;  but  his  influence  is  much 
reduced,  it  has  gone  into  Maea's  hands,  and 
Maea,  I  fear,  is  one  of  Case's  jackals.  In  fine, 
if  the  worst  comes  to  the  worst,  you  must  send 
up  or  come  yourself  to  Fale-alii,  and,  though  I 
am  not  due  at  this  end  of  the  island  for  a  month, 
I  will  just  see  what  can  be  done." 

So  Mr.  Tarleton  said  farewell ;  and  half  an 
hour  later  the  crew  were  singing  and  the  paddles 
flashing  in  the  missionary-boat. 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

DEVIL-WORK 

NEAE  a  month  went  by  without  much  do- 
ing. The  same  night  of  our  marriage 
Galoshes  called  round,  and  made  him- 
self mighty  civil,  and  got  into  a  habit  of  drop- 
ping in  about  dark  and  smoking  his  pipe  with 
the  family.  He  could  talk  to  Uma,  of  course, 
and  started  to  teach  me  native  and  French  at 
the  same  time.  He  was  a  kind  old  buffer, 
though  the  dirtiest  you  would  wish  to  see,  and 
he  muddled  me  up  with  foreign  languages  worse 
than  the  Tower  of  Babel. 

That  was  one  ^employment  we  had,  and  it 
made  me  feel  less  lonesome ;  but  there  was  no 
profit  in  the  thing,  for  though  the  priest  came 
and  sat  and  yarned,  none  of  his  folks  could  be 
enticed  into  my  store,  and  if  it  hadn't  been  for 
the  other  occupation  I  struck  out,  there  wouldn't 
have  been  a  pound  of  copra  in  the  house.  This 
was  the  idea :  Ea'avao  (Uma's  mother)  had  a 
sc(3re  of  bearing-trees.     Of  course  we  could  get 


DEVIL-WORK  77 

no  labor,  being  all  as  good  as  tabooed,  and  the 
two  women  and  I  turned  to  and  made  copra 
with  our  own  hands.  It  was  copra  to  make 
your  mouth  water  when  it  was  done — I  never 
understood  how  much  the  natives  cheated  me 
till  I  had  made  that  four  hundred  pounds  of  my 
own  hand — and  it  weighed  so  light  I  felt  in- 
clined to  take  and  water  it  myself. 

When  we  were  at  the  job  a  good  many  Kan- 
akas used  to  put  in  the  best  of  the  day  looking 
on,  and  once  that  nigger  turned  up.  He  stood 
back  with  the  natives  and  laughed  and  did  the 
big  don  and  the  funny  dog,  till  I  began  to  get 
riled. 

"  Here,  you  nigger !  "  says  I. 

"  I  don't  address  myself  to  you,  Sah,"  says  the 
nigger.     "  Only  speak  to  gen'le'um." 

"  I  know,"  says  I,  "  but  it  happens  I  was  ad- 
dressing myself  to  you,  Mr.  Black  Jack.  And 
all  I  want  to  know  is  just  this :  did  you  see 
Case's  figure-head  about  a  week  ago  ?  " 

'*No,  Sah,"  says  he. 

*'  That's  all  right,  then,"  says  I ;  "  for  I'll 
show  you  the  own  brother  to  it,  only  black,  in 
the  inside  of  about  two  minutes." 

And  I  began  to  walk  toward  him,  quite  slow, 
and  my  hands  down  ;  only  there  was  trouble  in 
my  eye,  if  anybody  took  the  pains  to  look. 


78  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

"  You're  a  low,  obstropulous  fellow,  Sah," 
sajs  he. 

"  You  bet !  "  says  I. 

By  that  time  he  thought  I  was  about  as  near 
as  convenient,  and  lit  out  so  it  would  have  done 
your  heart  good  to  see  him  travel.  And  that 
was  all  I  saw  of  that  precious  gang  until  what  I 
am  about  to  tell  you. 

'  It  was  one  of  my  chief  employments  these 
days  to  go  pot-hunting  in  the  woods,  which  I 
found  (as  Case  had  told  me)  very  rich  in  game. 
I  have  spoken  of  the  cape  w^hich  shut  up  the 
village  and  my  station  from  the  east.  A  path 
went  about  the  end  of  it,  and  led  into  the  next 
bay.  A  strong  wind  blew  here  daily,  and  as  the 
line  of  the  barrier  reef  stopped  at  the  end  of  the 
cape,  a  heav;)^  surf  ran  on  the  shores  of  the  bay. 
A  little  cliffy  hill  cut  the  valley  in  two  parts, 
and  stood  close  on  the  beach ;  and  at  high 
water  the  sea  broke  right  on  the  face  of  it,  so 
that  all  passage  was  stopped.  Woody  mountains 
hemmed  the  place  all  round  ;  the  barrier  to  the 
east  was  particularly  steep  and  leafy,  the  lower 
parts  of  it,  along  the  sea,  falling  in  sheer  black 
cliffs  streaked  with  cinnabar;  the  upper  part 
lumpy  with  the  tops  of  the  great  trees.  Some 
of  the  trees  w^ere  bright  green,  and  some  red, 
and  the  sand  of  the  beach  as  black  as  your  shoes- 


B  EVIL-WORK  79 

Many  birds  hovered  round  the  bay,  some  of  them 
snow-white  ;  and  the  flying-fox  (or  vampire)  flew 
there  in  broad  daylight,  gnashing  its  teeth;^_-.^ — - 

For  a  long  while  I  came  as  far  as  this  shoot- 
ing, and  went  no  farther.  There  was  no  sign  of 
any  path  beyond,  and  the  cocoa-palms  in  the 
front  of  the  foot  of  the  valley  w^ere  the  last  this 
way.  For  the  whole  "eye,"  of  the  island,  as 
natives  call  the  windward  end,  lay  desert.  From 
Falesa  round  about  to  Papa-malulu,  there  was 
neither  house,  nor  man,  nor  planted  fruit-tree ; 
and  the  reef  being  mostly  afbsent,  and  the  shores 
bluff,  the  sea  beat  direct  among  crags,  and  there 
was  scarce  a  landing-place. 

I  should  tell  you  that  after  I  began  to  go  in 
the  woods,  although  no  one  appeared  to  come 
near  my  store,  I  found  people  willing  enough  to 
pass  the  time  of  day  wdth  me  where  nobody 
could  see  them  ;  and  as  I  had  begun  to  pick  up 
native,  and  most  of  them  had  a  word  or  two  of 
English,  I  began  to  hold  little  odds  and  ends  of 
conversation,  not  to  much  purpose,  to  be  sure, 
but  they  took  off  the  worst  of  the  feeling,  for  it's 
a  miserable  thing  to  be  made  a  leper  of. 

It  chanced  one  day,  toward  the  end  of  the 
month,  that  I  was  sitting  in  this  bay  in  the  edge 
of  the  bush,  looking  east,  with  a  Kanaka.  I  had 
given  him  a  fill  of  tobacco,  and  we  were  making 


80  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

out  to  talk  as  best  we  could ;  indeed,  he  had 
more  English  than  most. 

I  asked  him  if  there  was  no  road  going  east- 
ward. 

"  One  time  one  road,"  said  he.  "  Now  he 
dead." 

"  Nobody  he  go  there  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  No  good,"  said  he.  "  Too  much  devil  he 
stop  there." 

*'  Oho !  "  says  I,  "  got-um  plenty  devil,  that 
bush  ?  " 

"  Man  devil,  woman  devil ;  too  much  devil," 
said  my  friend.  "  Stop  there  all-e-time.  Man 
he  go  there,  no  come  back." 

I  thought  if  this  fellow  was  so  well  posted 
on  devils  and  spoke  of  them  so  free,  which  is 
not  common,  I  had  better  fish  for  a  little  infor- 
mation about  myself  and  Uma. 

"  You  think  me  one  devil  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  No  think  devil,"  said  he,  soothingly. 
"  Think  all-e-same  fool." 

"  Uma,  she  devil  ?  "  I  asked  again. 

"  No,  no  ;  no  devil.  Devil  stop  bush,"  said 
the  young  man. 

I  was  looking  in  front  of  me  across  the  bay, 
and  I  saw  the  hanging  front  of  the  woods  pushed 
suddenly  open,  and  Case,  with  a  gun  in  his 
hand,  step  forth  into  the  sunshine  on  the  black 


DEVIL-WORK  81 

beach.  He  was  got  up  in  light  pyjamas,  near 
white,  his  gun  sparkled,  he  looked  mighty  con- 
spicuous ;  and  the  land-crabs  scuttled  from  all 
around  him  to  their  holes. 

"  Hullo,  my  friend !  "  says  I,  "  you  no  talk 
all-e-same  true.     Ese  he  go,  he  come  back." 

"  Ese  no  all-e-same ;  Ese  Tiapolo,''  says  my 
friend  ;  and,  with  a  "  Good-by,"  slunk  off  among 
the  trees. 

I  watched  Case  all  around  the  beach,  where 
the  tide  was  low  ;  and  let  him  pass  me  on  the 
homeward  way  to  Falesa.  He  was  in  deep 
thought,  and  the  birds  seemed  to  know  it,  trot- 
ting quite  near  him  on  the  sand,  or  wheeling 
and  calling  in  his  ears.  When  he  passed  me  I 
could  see  by  the  working  of  his  lips  that  he  was 
talking  to  himself,  and  what  pleased  me  mighti- 
ly, he  had  still  my  trade-mark  on  his  brow.  I 
tell  you  the  plain  truth :  I  had  a  mind  to  give 
him  a  gunful  in  his  ugly  mug,  but  I  thought 
better  of  it. 

All  this  time,  and  all  the  time  I  was  following 
home,  I  kept  repeating  that  native  word,  wliich 
I  remembered  by  *'  Polly,  put  the  kettle  on  and 
make  us  all  some  tea,"  tea-a-poUo. 

"  Uma,"  says  I,  when  I  got  back,  "  what  does 
Tiapolo  mean  ?  " 

"Devil,"  says  she. 
6 


82  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

"  I  thought  aitu  was  the  word  for  that,"  I  said. 

^^  Aitu  'nother  kind  of  devil,"  said  she  ;  "stop 
bush,  eat  Kanaka.  Tiapolo  big  chief  devil,  stop 
home  ;  all-e-same  Christian  devil." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  I,  "  I'm  no  farther  forward. 
How  can  Case  be  Tiapolo?" 

"  No  all-e-same,"  said  she.  "  Ese  belong  Tia- 
polo. Tiapolo  too  much  like ;  Ese  all-e-same  his 
son.  Suppose  Ese  he  wish  something,  Tiapolo 
he  make  him." 

"  That's  mighty  convenient  for  Ese,"  says  I. 
*'And  what  kind  of  things  does  he  make  for 
him  ?  " 

Well,  out  came  a  rigmarole  of  all  sorts  of 
stories,  many  of  which  (like  the  dollar  he  took 
from  Mr.  Tarleton's  head)  were  plain  enough  to 
me,  but  others  I  could  make  nothing  of  ;  and 
the  thing  that  most  surprised  the  Kanakas  was 
what  surprised  me  least — namely,  that  he  would 
go  in  the  desert  among  all  the  aitus.  Some  of 
the  boldest,  however,  had  accompanied  him,  and 
had  heard  him  speak  with  the  dead  and  give 
them  orders,  and,  safe  in  his  protection,  had  re- 
turned unscathed.  Some  said  he  had  a  church 
there,  where  he  worshipped  Tiapolo,  and  Tia- 
polo appeared  to  him  ;  others  swore  that  there 
was  no  sorcery  at  all,  that  he  performed  his 
miracles  by  the  power  of  prayer,  and  the  church 


DEVIL-WORK  83 

was  no  church,  but  a  prison,  in  which  he  had 
confined  a  dangerous  aitu.  Namu  had  been  in 
the  bush  with  him  once,  and  returned  glorifying 
God  for  these  wonders.  Altogether,  I  began  to 
have  a  glimmer  of  the  man's  position,  and  the 
means  by  which  he  had  acquired  it,  and,  though 
I  saw  he  was  a  tough  nut  to  crack,  I  was  noways 
cast  down. 

"Very  well,"  said  I,  "I'll  have  a  look  at 
Master  Case's  place  of  worship  myself,  and  we'll 
see  about  the  glorifying." 

At  this  Uma  fell  in  a  terrible  taking  ;  if  I 
went  in  the  high  bush  I  should  never  return  ; 
none  could  go  there  but  by  the  protection  of 
Tiapolo. 

"I'll  chance  it  on  God's,"  said  I.  "I'm  a 
good  sort  of  a  fellow,  Uma,  as  fellows  go,  and  I 
gviess  God'U  con  me  through." 

She  was  silent  for  a  while.  "  I  think,"  said 
she,  mighty  solemn  —  and  then,  presently  — 
*'  Victoreea,  he  big  chief  ?  " 

"You  bet!"  said  I. 

"  He  like  you  too  much  ?  "  she  asked  again. 

I  told  her,  with  a  grin,  I  believed  the  old 
lady  was  rather  partial  to  me. 

"All  right,"  said  she.  "Yictoreea  he  big 
chief,  like  you  too  much.  No  can  help  you  here 
in  Falesa  ;  no  can  do — too  far  off.     Maea  he  be 


84  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

small  chief — stop  here.  Suppose  he  like  you— 
make  you  all  right.  All-e-same  God  and  Tia- 
polo.  God  he  big  chief — got  too  much  work. 
Tiapolo  he  small  chief — he  like  too  much  make- 
see,  work  very  hard." 

"  I'U  have  to  hand  you  over  to  Mr.  Tarleton," 
said  I.  "  Your  theology's  out  of  its  bearings, 
Uma." 

However,  we  stuck  to  this  business  all  the 
evening,  and,  mth  the  stories  she  told  me  of 
the  desert  and  its  dangers,  she  came  near  fright- 
ening herself  into  a  fit.  I  don't  remember  half 
a  quarter  of  them,  of  course,  for  I  paid  little 
heed  ;  but  two  come  back  to  me  kind  of  clear. 

About  six  miles  up  the  coast  there  is  a  shel- 
tered cove  they  call  Fanga-anaana — "  the  haven 
full  of  caves."  I've  seen  it  from  the  sea  myself, 
as  near  as  I  could  get  my  boys  to  venture  in  ; 
and  it's  a  little  strip  of  yellow  sand,  black  cliffs 
overhang  it,  full  of  the  black  mouths  of  caves  ; 
great  trees  overhang  the  cliffs,  and  dangle-down 
lianas ;  and  in  one  place,  about  the  middle,  a 
big  brook  pours  over  in  a  cascade.  Well,  there 
was  a  boat  going  by  here,  with  six  young  men 
of  Falesa,  "all  very  pretty,"  Uma  said,  which 
was  the  loss  of  them.  It  blew  strong,  there  was 
a  heavy  head  sea,  and  by  the  time  they  opened 
Fanga-anaana,  and  saw  the  white  cascade  and 


DEVIL-WORK  85 

the  shady  beach,  they  were  all  tired  and  thirsty, 
and  their  water  had  run  out.  One  proposed  to 
land  and  get  a  diink,  and,  being  reckless  fellows, 
they  were  all  of  the  same  mind  except  the 
youngest.  Lotu  was  his  name  ;  he  was  a  very 
good  young  gentleman,  and  very  wise ;  and  he 
held  out  that  they  were  crazy,  telling  them  the 
place  was  given  over  to  spirits  and  devils  and 
the  dead,  and  there  were  no  living  folk  nearer 
than  six  miles  the  one  way,  and  maybe  twelve 
the  other.  But  they  laughed  at  his  words, 
and,  being  five  to  one,  pulled  in,  beached  the 
boat,  and  landed.  It  was  a  wonderful  pleas- 
ant place,  Lotu  said,  and  the  water  excellent. 
They  walked  round  the  beach,  but  could  see  no- 
where any  way  to  mount  the  cliffs,  which  made 
them  easier  in  their  mind ;  and  at  last  they  sat 
down  to  make  a  meal  on  the  food  they  had 
brought  with  them.  They  were  scarce  set,  when 
there  came  out  of  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  black 
caves  six  of  the  most  beautiful  ladies  ever  seen  ; 
they  had  flowers  in  their  hair,  and  the  most 
beautiful  breasts,  and  necklaces  of  scarlet  seeds  ; 
and  began  to  jest  with  these  young  gentlemen, 
and  the  young  gentlemen  to  jest  back  with 
them,  all  but  Lotu.  As  for  Lotu,  he  saw  there 
could  be  no  living  woman  in  such  a  place,  and 
ran,  and  flung  himself  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat, 


86  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

and  covered  liis  face,  and  prayed.  All  the  time 
the  business  lasted  Lotu  made  one  clean  break 
of  prayer,  and  that  was  all  he  knew  of  it,  until 
his  friends  came  back,  and  made  him  sit  up, 
and  they  put  to  sea  again  out  of  the  bay,  which 
was  now  quite  desert,  and  no  word  of  the  six 
ladies.  But,  what  frightened  Lotu  most,  not 
one  of  the  five  remembered  anything  of  what 
had  passed,  but  they  were  all  like  drunken  men, 
and  sang  and  laughed  in  the  boat,  and  sky- 
larked. The  wind  freshened  and  came  squally, 
and  the  sea  rose  extraordinary  high ;  it  was 
such  weather  as  any  man  in  the  islands  would 
have  turned  his  back  to  and  fled  home  to 
Falesa ;  but  these  five  were  like  crazy  folk, 
and  cracked  on  all  sail  and  drove  their  boat 
into  the  seas.  Lotu  went  to  the  bailing ;  none 
of  the  others  thought  to  help  him,  but  sang 
and  skylarked  and  carried  on,  and  spoke  singu- 
lar things  beyond  a  man's  comprehension,  and 
laughed  out  loud  when  they  said  them.  So 
the  rest  of  the  day  Lotu  bailed  for  his  life  in 
the  bottom  of  the  boat,  and  was  all  drenched 
with  sweat  and  cold  sea- water ;  and  none  heeded 
him.  Against  all  expectation,  they  came  safe  in 
a  dreadful  tempest  to  Papa-malulu,  where  the 
palms  were  singing  out,  and  the  cocoa-nuts  fly- 
ing like  cannon-balls   about  the  village  green ; 


DEVIL-WORK  87 

and  the  same  night  the  five  young  gentlemen 
sickened,  and  spoke  never  a  reasonable  word 
until  they  died. 

"  And  do  you  mean  to  tell  me  you  can  swal- 
low a  yarn  like  that  ?  "  I  asked. 

She  told  me  the  thing  was  well  known,  and 
with  handsome  young  men  alone  it  was  even 
common ;  but  this  was  the  only  case  where  five 
had  been  slain  the  same  day  and  in  a  company 
by  the  love  of  the  women-devils ;  and  it  had 
made  a  great  stir  in  the  island,  and  she  would 
be  crazy  if  she  doubted. 

"Well,  anyway,"  says  I,  "you  needn't  be 
frightened  about  me.  I've  no  use  for  the 
women-devils.  You're  all  the  women  I  want, 
and  all  the  devil  too,  old  lady." 

To  this  she  answered  there  were  other  sorts, 
and  she  had  seen  one  with  her  own  eyes.  She 
had  gone  one  day  alone  to  the  next  bay,  and, 
perhaps,  got  too  near  the  margin  of  the  bad 
place.  The  boughs  of  the  high  bush  over- 
shadowed her  from  the  cant  of  the  hill,  but  she 
herself  was  outside  on  a  flat  place,  very  stony 
and  growing  full  of  young  mummy-apples  four 
and  five  feet  high.  It  was  a  dark  day  in  the 
rainy  season,  and  now  there  came  squalls  that 
tore  off  the  leaves  and  sent  them  flying,  and 
now  it  was  all  still  as  in  a  house.     It  was  in 


88  TEE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

one  of  these  still  times  that  a  whole  gang  of 
birds  and  flying-foxes  came  pegging  out  of  the 
bush  like  creatures  frightened.  Presently  after 
she  heard  a  rustle  nearer  hand,  and  saw,  coming 
out  of  the  margin  of  the  trees,  among  the 
mummy- apples,  the  appearance  of  a  lean  gray 
old  boar.  It  seemed  to  think  as  it  came,  like 
a  person  ;  and  all  of  a  sudden,  as  she  looked  at 
it  coming,  she  was  aware  it  was  no  boar,  but  a 
thing  that  was  a  man  with  a  man's  thoughts. 
At  that  she  ran,  and  the  pig  after  her,  and  as 
the  pig  ran  it  holla'd  aloud,  so  that  the  place 
rang  with  it. 

"  I  wish  I  had  been  there  with  my  gun,"  said 
I.  "I  guess  that  pig  would  have  holla'd  so  as  to 
surprise  himself." 

But  she  told  me  a  gun  was  of  no  use  mtli  the 
like  of  these,  which  were  the  spirits  of  the  dead. 

Well,  this  kind  of  talk  put  in  the  evening, 
which  was  the  best  of  it ;  but  of  course  it  didn't 
change  my  notion,  and  the  next  day,  with  my 
gun  and  a  good  knife,  I  set  off  upon  a  voyage  of 
discovery.  I  made,  as  near  as  I  could,  for  the 
place  where  I  had  seen  Case  come  out ;  for  if  it 
was  true  he  had  some  kind  of  establishment 
in  the  bush  I  reckoned  I  should  find  a  path. 
The  beginning  of  the  desert  was  marked  off  by 
a  wall,  to  call  it  so,  for  it   was  more  of  a  long 


DEVIL-WORK  89 

mound  of  stones.  They  say  it  reaches  right 
across  the  island,  but  how  they  know  it  is  an- 
other question,  for  I  doubt  if  any  one  has  made 
the  journey  in  a  hundred  years,  the  natives 
sticking  chiefly  to  the  sea  and  their  little  colonies 
along  the  coast,  and  that  part  being  mortal  high 
and  steep  and  full  of  cliffs.  Up  to  the  west  side 
of  the  wall  the  ground  has  been  cleared,  and 
there  are  cocoa-palms  and  mummy- apples  and 
guavas,  and  lots  of  sensitive.  Just  across,  the 
bush  begins  outright ;  high  bush  at  that,  trees 
going  up  like  the  masts  of  ships,  and  ropes  of 
liana  hanging  down  like  a  ship's  rigging,  and 
nasty  orchids  growing  in  the  forks  like  fungus- 
es. The  ground  where  there  was  no  underwood 
looked  to  be  a  heap  of  boulders.  I  saw  many 
green  pigeons  which  I  might  have  shot,  only  I 
was  there  with  a  different  idea.  A  number  of 
butterflies  flopped  up  and  down  along  the 
ground  like  dead  leaves ;  sometimes  I  would 
hear  a  bird  calling,  sometimes  the  wind  over- 
head, and  always  the  sea  along  the  coast. 

But  the  queerness  of  the  place  it's  more  diffi- 
cult to  tell  of,  unless  to  one  who  has  been  alone 
in  the  high  bush  himself.  The  brightest  kind 
of  a  day  it  is  always  dim  down  there.  A  man 
can  see  to  the  end  of  nothing ;  whichever  way 
he  looks  the  wood  shuts  up,  one  bough  folding 


90  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

(  with  another  like  the  fingers  of  your  hand  ;  and 
whenever  he  listens  he  hears  always  something 
new — men  talking,  children  laughing,  the  strokes 
of  an  axe  a  far  way  ahead  of  him,  and  sometimes 
a  sort  of  a  quick,  stealthy  scurry  near  at  hand  that 
makes  him  jump  and  look  to  his  weapons.  It's  all 
very  well  for  him  to  tell  himself  that  he's  alone, 
bar  trees  and  birds ;  he  can't  make  out  to  believe 
it ;  whichever  way  he  turns  the  whole  place  seems 
to  be  alive  and  looking  on.  Don't  think  it  was 
Uma's  yarns  that  put  me  out ;  I  don't  value  na- 
tive talk  a  fourpenny-piece  ;  it's  a  thing  that's 

\  natural  in  the  bush,  and  that's  the  end  of  it. 
— 'As  I  got  near  the  top  of  the  hill,  for  the 
ground  of  the  wood  goes  up  in  this  place  steep 
as  a  ladder,  the  wind  began  to  sound  straight  on, 
and  the  leaves  to  toss  and  switch  open  and  let 
in  the  sun.  This  suited  me  better  ;  it  was  the 
same  noise  all  the  time,  and  nothing  to  startle. 
Well,  I  had  got  to  a  place  where  there  was  an 
underwood  of  what  they  call  w^ild  cocoanut — • 
mighty  pretty  with  its  scarlet  fruit — when  there 
came  a  sound  of  singing  in  the  wind  that  I 
thought  I  had  never  heard  the  like  of.  It  was 
all  very  fine  to  tell  myseK  it  was  the  branches  ; 
I  knew  better.  It  was  all  very  fine  to  tell  my- 
self it  was  a  bird ;  I  knew  never  a  bird  that 
sang  like  that.     It  rose  and  swelled,  and  died 


DEVIL-WORK  91 

away  and  swelled  again ;  and  now  I  thought  it 
was  like  someone  weeping,  only  prettier  ;  and 
now  I  thought  it  was  like  harps  ;  and  there  was 
one  thing  I  made  sure  of,  it  was  a  sight  too 
sweet  to  be  wholesome  in  a  place  like  that.  You 
may  laugh  if  you  like  ;  but  I  declare  I  called  to 
mind  the  six  young  ladies  that  came,  with  their 
scarlet  necklaces,  out  of  the  cave  at  Fanga-anaana, 
and  wondered  if  they  sang  like  that.  We  laugh 
at  the  natives  and  their  superstitions ;  but  see 
how  many  traders  take  them  up,  splendidly  edu- 
cated white  men,  that  have  been  bookkeepers 
(some  of  them)  and  clerks  in  the  old  country. 
It's  my  belief  a  superstition  grows  up  in  a  place 
like  the  different  kind  of  weeds  ;  and  as  I  stood 
there  and  listened  to  that  wailing  I  twittered  in 
my  shoes. 

You  may  call  me  a  coward  to  be  frightened  ; 
I  thought  myself  brave  enough  to  go  on  ahead. 
But  I  went  mighty  carefully,  with  my  gun 
cocked,  spying  all  about  me  like  a  hunter,  fully 
expecting  to  see  a  handsome  young  woman 
sitting  somewhere  in  the  bush,  and  fully  de- 
termined (if  I  did)  to  try  her  with  a  charge 
of  duck-shot.  And  sure  enough,  I  had  not 
gone  far  when  I  met  with  a  queer  thing.  The 
wind  came  on  the  top  of  the  wood  in  a  strong 
puff,  the  leaves  in  front  of  me  burst  open,  and 


92  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

I  saw  for  a  second  something  hanging  in  a 
tree.  It  was  gone  in  a  wink,  the  pnff  blowing 
by  and  the  leaves  closing.  I  tell  yon  the 
truth :  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  see  an  aitu  ; 
and  if  the  thing  had  looked  like  a  pig  or  a 
woman,  it  wouldn't  have  given  me  the  same 
turn.  The  trouble  was  that  it  seemed  kind 
of  square,  and  the  idea  of  a  square  thing  that 
was  alive  and  sang  knocked  me  sick  and  silly. 
I  must  have  stood  quite  a  while;  and  I  made 
pretty  certain  it  was  right  out  of  the  same  tree 
that  the  singing  came.  Then  I  began  to  come  to 
myself  a  bit. 

"  Well,"  says  I,  "if  this  is  really  so,  if  this  is 
a  place  where  there  are  square  things  that  sing, 
I'm  gone  up  anyway.  Let's  have  my  fun  for  my 
money." 

But  I  thought  I  might  as  well  take  the  off- 
chance  of  a  prayer  being  any  good  ;  so  I  plumped 
on  my  knees  and  prayed  out  loud ;  and  all  the 
time  I  was  praying  the  strange  sounds  came  out 
of  the  tree,  and  went  up  and  down,  and  changed, 
for  all  the  world  like  music,  only  you  could  see 
it  wasn't  human — there  was  nothing  there  that 
you  could  whistle. 

As  soon  as  I  had  made  an  end  in  proper 
style,  I  laid  down  my  gun,  stuck  my  knife  be- 
tween my  teeth,  walked  right  up  to  that  tree 


DEVIL-WORK  93 

and  began  to  climb.  I  tell  you  my  heart  was 
like  ice.  But  presently,  as  I  went  up,  I  caught 
another  glimpse  of  the  thing,  and  that  relieved 
me,  for  I  thought  it  seemed  like  a  box  ;  and  when 
I  had  got  right  up  to  it  I  near  fell  out  of  the 
tree  with  laughing. 

A  box  it  was,  sure  enough,  and  a  candle-box 
at  that,  with  the  brand  upon  the  side  of  it ;  and 
it  had  banjo-strings  stretched  so  as  to  sound 
when  the  wind  blew.  I  believe  they  call  the 
thing  a  Tyrolean"^  harp,  whatever  that  may 
mean. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Case,"  said  I,  "  you  frightened  me 
once,  but  I  defy  you  to  frighten  me  again," 
I  says,  and  slipped  down  the  tree,  and  set  out 
again  to  find  my  enemy's  head  office,  which  I 
guessed  would  not  be  far  away. 

The  undergrowth  was  thick  in  this  part ;  I 
couldn't  see  before  my  nose,  and  must  burst  my 
way  through  by  main  force  and  ply  the  knife  as 
I  went,  slicing  the  cords  of  the  lianas  and 
slashing  doAvn  whole  trees  at  a  blow.  I  call 
them  trees  for  the  bigness,  but  in  truth  they 
were  just  big  weeds,  and  sappy  to  cut  through 
like  carrot.  From  all  this  crowd  and  kind  of 
vegetation,  I  was  just  thinking  to  myself,  the 
place  might  have  once  been  cleared,  when  I  came 
*  .(Eolian. 


94  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

on  my  nose  over  a  pile  of  stones,  and  saw  in  a 
moment  it  was  some  kind  of  a  work  of  man.  The 
Lord  knows  when  it  was  made  or  when  deserted, 
for  this  part  of  the  island  has  lain  undisturbed 
since  long  before  the  whites  came.  A  few  steps 
beyond  I  hit  into  the  path  I  had  been  always 
looking  for.  It  was  narrow,  but  well  beaten,  and 
I  saw  that  Case  had  plenty  of  disciples.  It  seems, 
indeed  it  was,  a  piece  of  fashionable  boldness  to 
venture  uj)  here  with  the  trader,  and  a  young 
man  scarce  reckoned  himself  grown  till  he  had 
got  his  breech  tattooed,  for  one  thing,  and  seen 
Case's  devils  for  another.  This  is  mighty  like 
Kanakas  :  but,  if  you  look  at  it  another  way,  it's 
mighty  like  white  folks  too. 

A  bit  along  the  path  I  was  brought  to  a  clear 
stand,  and  had  to  rub  my  eyes.  There  was  a 
wall  in  front  of  me,  the  path  passing  it  by  a 
gap  ;  it  was  tumbledown  and  plainly  very  old, 
but  built  of  big  stones  very  well  laid;  and 
there  is  no  native  alive  to-day  upon  that  isl- 
and that  could  dream  of  such  a  piece  of 
building !  Along  all  the  top  of  it  was  a  line 
of  queer  figures,  idols  or  scarecrows,  or  what 
not.  They  had  carved  and  painted  faces  ugly 
to  view,  their  eyes  and  teeth  were  of  shell, 
their  hair  and  their  bright  clothes  blew  in 
the  wind,  and  some  of  them  worked  with  the 


DEVIL-WORK  95 

tugging.  There  are  islands  up  west  where 
they  make  these  kind  of  figures  till  to-day ;  but 
if  ever  they  were  made  in  this  island,  the  prac- 
tice and  the  very  recollection  of  it  are  now 
long  forgotten.  And  the  singular  thing  was 
that  all  these  bogies  were  as  fresh  as  toys  out 
of  a  shop. 

Then  it  came  in  my  mind  that  Case  had  let 
out  to  me  the  first  day  that  he  was  a  good  forger 
of  island  curiosities — a  thing  by  which  so  many 
traders  turn  an  honest  penny.  And  with  that  I 
saw  the  whole  business,  and  how  this  display 
served  the  man  a  double  purpose  :  first  of  all,  to 
season  his  curiosities,  and  then  to  frighten  those 
that  came  to  visit  him. 

But  I  should  tell  you  (what  made  the  thing 
more  curious)  that  all  the  time  the  Tyrolean 
harps  were  harping  round  me  in  the  trees,  and 
even  while  I  looked,  a  green-and-yellow  bird 
(that,  I  suppose,  was  building)  began  to  tear  the 
hair  off  the  head  of  one  of  the  figures. 

A  little  farther  on  I  found  the  best  curiosity 
of  the  museum.  The  first  I  saw  of  it  was  a 
longish  mound  of  earth  with  a  twist  to  it.  Dig- 
ging off  the  earth  with  my  hands,  I  found  under- 
neath tarpaulin  stretched  on  boards,  so  that  this 
was  plainly  the  roof  of  a  cellar.  It  stood  right 
on  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  the  entrance  was  on 


96  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

the  far  side,  between  two  rocks,  like  tlie  entrance 
to  a  cave.  I  went  as  far  in  as  the  bend,  and, 
looking  round  the  corner,  saw  a  shining  face.  It 
was  big  and  ugly,  like  a  pantomime  mask,  and 
the  brightness  of  it  waxed  and  dwindled,  and  at 
times  it  smoked. 

"  Oho  !  "  says  I,  "  luminous  paint !  " 
And  I  must  say  I  rather  admired  the  man's 
ingenuity.  With  a  box  of  tools  and  a  few 
mighty  simple  contrivances  he  had  made  out  to 
have  a  devil  of  a  temple.  Any  poor  Kanaka 
brought  up  here  in  the  dark,  with  the  harps 
whining  all  round  him,  and  shown  that  smoking 
face  in  the  bottom  of  a  hole,  would  make  no  kind 
of  doubt  but  he  had  seen  and  heard  enough 
devils  for  a  lifetime.  It's  easy  to  find  out  what 
Kanakas  think.  Just  go  back  to  yourself  any- 
way round  from  ten  to  fifteen  years  old,  and 
there's  an  average  Kanaka.  There  are  some 
pious,  just  as  there  are  pious  boys;  and  the 
most  of  them,  like  the  boys  again,  are  middling 
honest  and  yet  think  it  rather  larks  to  steal,  and 
are  easy  scared,  and  rather  like  to  be  so.  I 
remember  a  boy  I  was  at  school  with  at  home 
who  played  the  Case  business.  He  didn't  know 
anything,  that  boy  ;  he  couldn't  do  anything ;  he 
had  no  luminous  paint  and  no  Tyrolean  harps ; 
he  just  boldly  said  he  was  a  sorcerer,  and  fright- 


LOOKING   BOUND    THE    COKNEli   I    SAW    A    SHINING   FACE. 


DEVIL-WOEK  97 

ened  us  out  of  our  boots,  and  we  loved  it.  And 
then  it  came  in  my  mind  how  the  master  had 
once  flogged  that  boy,  and  the  surprise  we  were 
all  in  to  see  the  sorcerer  catch  it  and  hum  like 
anj^body  else.  Thinks  I  to  myself :  "I  must 
find  some  way  of  fixing  it  so  for  Master  Case." 
And  the  next  moment  I  had  my  idea. 

I  went  back  by  the  path,  which,  when  once  you 
had  found  it,  was  quite  plain  and  easy  walking ; 
and  when  I  stepped  out  on  the  black  sands,  who 
should  I  see  but  Master  Case  himself.  I  cocked 
my  gun  and  held  it  handy,  and  we  marched  up 
and  passed  without  a  word,  each  keeping  the 
tail  of  his  eye  on  the  other ;  and  no  sooner  had 
we  passed  than  we  each  whee  ^ed  round  like  fel- 
lows drilling,  and  stood  face  to  face.  We  had 
each  taken  the  same  notion  in  his  head,  you  see, 
that  the  other  fellow  might  give  him  the  load  of 
his  gun  in  the  stern. 

"  You've  shot  nothing,"  says  Case. 

"  I'm  not  on  the  shoot  to-day,"  said  I. 

"Well,  the  devil  go  with  you  for  me,"  says  he. 

"  The  same  to  you,"  says  I. 

But  we  stuck  just  the  way  we  were ;  no  fear 
of  either  of  us  moving. 

Case  laughed.  "  We  can't  stop  here  all  day, 
though,"  said  he. 

"  Don't  let  me  detain  you,"  says  I. 
7 


98  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

He  laughed  again.  "  Look  here,  Wiltshire,  do 
you  think  me  a  fool  ?  "  he  asked. 

"More  of  a  knave,  if  you  want  to  know," 
says  I. 

"Well,  do  you  think  it  would  better  me  to 
shoot  you  here,  on  this  open  beach  ?  "  said  he. 
"Because  I  don't.  Folks  come  fishing  every 
day.  There  may  be  a  score  of  them  up  the  val- 
ley now,  making  copra ;  there  might  be  half  a 
dozen  on  the  hill  behind  you,  after  pigeons; 
they  might  be  watching  us  this  minute,  and  I 
shouldn't  wonder.  I  give  you  my  word  I  don't 
want  to  shoot  you.  Why  should  I  ?  You  don't 
hinder  me  any.  You  haven't  got  one  pound  of 
copra  but  what  you  made  with  your  own  hands, 
like  a  negro  slave.  You're  vegetating — that's 
what  I  call  it — and  I  don't  care  where  you  vege- 
tate, nor  yet  how  long.  Give  me  your  word  you 
don't  mean  to  shoot  me,  and  I'll  give  you  a  lead 
and  walk  away." 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  you're  frank  and  pleasant, 
ain't  you?  And  I'll  be  the  same.  I  don't  mean 
to  shoot  you  to-day.  Why  should  I?  This 
business  is  beginning  ;  it  ain't  done  yet,  Mr. 
Case.  I've  given  you  one  turn  already.  I  can 
see  the  marks  of  my  knuckles  on  your  head  to 
this  blooming  hour,  and  I've  more  cooking  for 
you.     I'm  not  a  paralee,  like   Underhill.     My 


t 


h.. 


iff 


£^ 


DEVIL-WORK  99 

name  ain't  Adams,  and  it  ain't  Vigours ;  and  I 
mean  to  show  you  that  you've  met  your  match." 

"  This  is  a  silly  way  to  talk,"  said  he.  "  This 
is  not  the  talk  to  make  me  move  on  with." 

"All  right,"  said  I,  "  stay  where  you  are.  I 
ain't  in  any  hurry,  and  you  know  it.  I  can  put 
in  a  day  on  this  beach  and  never  mind.  I  ain't 
got  any  copra  to  bother  with.  I  ain't  got  any 
luminous  paint  to  see  to." 

I  was  sorry  I  said  that  last,  but  it  whipped 
out  before  I  knew.  I  could  see  it  took  the  wind 
out  of  his  sails,  and  he  stood  and  stared  at  me 
with  his  brow  drawn  up.  Then  I  suppose  he 
made  up  his  mind  he  must  get  to  the  bottom  of 
this. 

"  I  take  you  at  your  word,"  says  he,  and 
turned  his  back,  and  walked  right  into  the  dev- 
il's bush. 

I  let  him  go,  of  course,  for  I  had  passed  my 
word.  But  I  watched  him  as  long  as  he  was  in 
sight,  and  after  he  was  gone  lit  out  for  cover  as 
lively  as  you  would  want  to  see,  and  went  the 
rest  of  the  way  home  under  the  bush,  for  I 
didn't  trust  him  sixpence  worth.  One  thing  I 
saw,  I  had  been  ass  enough  to  give  him  warning, 
and  that  which  I  meant  to  do  I  must  do  at  once. 

You  would  think  I  had  had  about  enough  ex- 
citement for  one  mornincr,  but  there  was  another 


100  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

turn  waiting  me.  As  soon  as  I  got  far  enough 
round  the  cape  to  see  my  house  I  made  out 
there  were  strangers  there ;  a  little  farther,  and 
no  doubt  about  it.  There  was  a  couple  of  armed 
sentinels  squatting  at  my  door.  I  could  only 
suppose  the  trouble  about  Uma  must  have  come 
to  a  head,  and  the  station  been  seized.  For 
aught  I  could  think,  Uma  was  taken  up  already, 
and  these  armed  men  were  waiting  to  do  the 
like  with  me. 

However,  as  I  came  nearer,  which  I  did  at  top 
speed,  I  saw  there  was  a  third  native  sitting  on 
the  veranda  like  a  guest,  and  Uma  was  talking 
with  him  like  a  hostess.  Nearer  still  I  made 
out  it  was  the  big  young  chief,  Maea,  and  tliat 
he  was  smiling  aAvay  and  smoking.  And  what 
was  he  smoking  ?  None  of  your  European  ciga- 
rettes fit  for  a  cat,  not  even  the  genuine  big, 
knock-me-down  native  article  that  a  fellow  can 
really  put  in  the  time  with  if  his  pijDe  is  broke — 
but  a  cigar,  and  one  of  my  Mexicans  at  that, 
that  I  could  swear  to.  At  sight  of  this  my  heart 
started  beating,  and  I  took  a  wild  hope  in  my 
head  that  the  trouble  was  over,  and  Maea  had 
come  round. 

Uma  pointed  me  out  to  him  as  I  came  up, 
and  he  met  me  at  the  head  of  my  own  stairs 
like  a  thorough  gentleman. 


DEVIL-WORK  101 

"  Vilivili,"  said  lie,  wliicli  was  the  best  they 
could  make  of  my  name,  "  I  pleased." 

There  is  no  doubt  when  an  island  chief  wants 
to  be  civil  he  can  do  it.  I  saw  the  way  things 
were  from  the  word  go.  There  was  no  call  for 
Uma  to  say  to  me :  "  He  no  'fraid  Ese  now, 
come  bring  copra."  I  tell  you  I  shook  hands 
with  that  Kanaka  like  as  if  he  was  the  best 
white  man  in  Europe. 

The  fact  was,  Case  and  he  had  got  after  the 
same  girl,  or  Maea  suspected  it,  and  concluded 
to  make  hay  of  the  trader  on  the  chance.  He 
had  dressed  himself  up,  got  a  couple  of  his  re- 
tainers cleaned  and  armed  to  kind  of  make  the 
thing  more  public,  and,  just  waiting  till  Case  was 
clear  of  the  village,  came  round  to  put  the  whole 
of  his  business  my  way.  He  was  rich  as  well  as 
powerful.  I  suppose  that  man  was  worth  fifty 
thousand  nuts  per  annum.  I  gave  him  the  price 
of  the  beach  and  a  quarter  cent  better,  and  as  for 
credit,  I  would  have  advanced  him  the  inside  of 
the  store  and  the  fittings  besides,  I  was  so  pleased 
to  see  him.  I  must  say  he  bought  like  a  gentle- 
man :  rice  and  tins  and  biscuits  enough  for  a 
week's  feast,  and  stuffs  by  the  bolt.  He  was  agree- 
able besides  ;  he  had  plenty  fun  to  him  ;  and  we 
cracked  jests  together,  mostly  through  the  inter- 
preter, because  he  had  mighty  little  English,  and 


102  TEE  BEACH  OF  FALEsA 

my  native  was  still  off  color.  One  thing  I  made 
out :  lie  could  never  really  have  thought  much 
harm  of  Uma ;  he  could  never  have  been  really 
frightened,  and  must  just  have  made  believe  from 
dodginess,  and  because  he  thought  Case  had  a 
strong  pull  in  the  village  and  could  help  him  on* 

This  set  me  thinking  that  both  he  and  I  were 
in  a  tightish  place.  What  he  had  done  was  to 
fly  in  the  face  of  the  whole  village,  and  the 
thing  might  cost  him  his  authority.  More  than 
that,  after  my  talk  with  Case  on  the  beach,  I 
thought  it  might  very  well  cost  me  my  life.  Case 
had  as  good  as  said  he  would  pot  me  if  ever  I 
got  any  copra  ;  he  would  come  home  to  find  the 
best  business  in  the  village  had  changed  hands, 
and  the  best  thing  I  thought  I  could  do  was  to 
get  in  first  with  the  potting. 

"  See  here,  Uma,"  says  I,  "  tell  him  I'm  sorry 
I  made  him  wait,  but  I  was  up  looking  at  Case's 
Tiapolo  store  in  the  bush." 

"  He  want  savvy  if  you  no  'fraid  ?  "  translated 
Uma. 

I  laughed  out.  "  Not  much  !  "  says  I.  ''  Tell 
him  the  place  is  a  blooming  toy-shop!  Tell 
him  in  England  we  give  these  things  to  the  kid 
to  play  with." 

"  He  want  savvy  if  you  hear  devil  sing  ?  "  she 
asked  next. 


DEVIL-WORK  103 

"Look  here,"  I  said,  "I  can't  do  it  now,  be- 
cause I've  got  no  banjo-strings  in  stock ;  but  the 
next  time  the  ship  comes  round  I'll  have  one  of 
these  same  contraptions  right  here  in  my  veranda, 
and  he  can  see  for  himself  how  much  devil  there 
is  to  it.  Tell  him,  as  soon  as  I  can  get  the  strings 
I'll  make  one  for  his  picaninnies.  The  name  of 
the  concern  is  a  Tyrolean  harp  ;  and  you  can  tell 
him  the  name  means  in  English  that  nobody  but 
dam-fools  give  a  cent  for  it." 

This  time  he  was  so  pleased  he  had  to  try  his 
English  again.     "  You  talk  true?  "  says  he. 

"  Eather  !  "  said  I.  "  Talk  all-a-same  Bible. 
Bring  out  a  Bible  here,  Uma,  if  you've  got  such 
a  thing,  and  I'll  kiss  it.  Or,  I'll  tell  you  what's 
better  still,"  says  I,  taking  a  header,  "  ask  him 
if  he's  afraid  to  go  up  there  himself  by  day." 

It  appeared  he  wasn't ;  he  could  venture  as 
far  as  that  by  day  and  in  company. 

"  That's  the  ticket,  then  !  "  said  I.  "  Tell  him 
the  man's  a  fraud  and  the  place  foolishness,  and 
if  he'll  go  up  there  to-morrow  he'll  see  all  that's 
left  of  it.  But  tell  him  this,  Uma,  and  mind  he 
understands  it :  If  he  gets  talking  it's  bound  to 
come  to  Case,  and  I'm  a  dead  man !  I'm  playing 
his  game,  tell  him,  and  if  he  says  one  word  my 
blood  will  be  at  his  door  and  be  the  damnation 
of  him  here  and  after." 


104r  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

She  told  him,  and  he  shook  hands  with  me  up 
to  the  hilt,  and,  says  he  :  "No  talk.  Go  up  to- 
mollow.     You  my  friend  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  says  I,  "  no  such  foolishness.  I've 
come  here  to  trade,  tell  him,  and  not  to  make 
friends.  But,  as  to  Case,  I'll  send  that  man  to 
glory!" 

So  off  Maea  went,  pretty  well  pleased,  as  I 
could  see. 


CHAPTEE   V. 

NIGHT  IN  THE  BUSH. 

WELL,  I  was  committed  now;  Tiapolo 
had  to  be  smashed  up  before  next 
day,  and  my  hands  were  pretty  full, 
not  only  with  preparations,  but  with  argument. 
My  house  was  like  a  mechanics'  debating  society. 
Uma  was  so  made  up  that  I  shouldn't  go  into 
the  bush  by  night,  or  that,  if  I  did,  I  was  never 
to  come  back  again.  You  know  her  style  of 
arguing :  you've  had  a  specimen  about  Queen 
Victoria  and  the  devil ;  and  I  leave  you  to  fancy 
if  I  was  tired  of  it  before  dark. 

At  last  I  had  a  good  idea.  "  What  was  the 
use  of  casting  my  pearls  before  her  ?  "  I  thought ; 
some  of  her  own  chopped  hay  would  be  likelier 
to  do  the  business. 

"I'll  tell  you  what,  then,"  said  I.  "  You  fish 
out  your  Bible,  and  I'll  take  that  up  along  with 
me.     That'll  make  me  right." 

She  swore  a  Bible  was  no  use. 


106  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

"  That's  just  your  Kanaka  ignorance,"  said  I. 
"  Bring  the  Bible  out." 

She  brought  it,  and  I  turned  to  the  title-page, 
where  I  thought  there  would  likely  be  some 
English,  and  so  there  was.  "  There  !  "  said  L 
"  Look  at  that !  '  London  :  Printed  for  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society ,  BlacJcfriars,'  and  the 
date,  which  I  can't  read,  owing  to  its  being  in 
these  X's.  There's  no  devil  in  hell  can  look 
near  the  Bible  Society,  Blackfriars.  Why,  you 
silly,"  I  said,  "how  do  you  suppose  we  get 
along  with  our  own  aitus  at  home !  All  Bible 
Society ! " 

"  I  think  you  no  got  any,"  said  she.  "  White 
man,  he  tell  me  you  no  got." 

"Sounds  likely,  don't  it?"  I  asked.  "Why 
would  these  islands  all  be  chock  full  of  them 
and  none  in  Europe  ?  " 

"  Well,  you  no  got  bread-fruit,"  said  she. 

I  could  have  torn  my  hair.  "  Now,  look  here, 
old  lady,"  said  I,  "  you  dry  up,  for  I'm  tired  of 
you.  I'll  take  the  Bible,  which'll  put  me  as 
straight  as  the  mail,  and  that's  the  last  word  I've 
got  to  say." 

The  night  fell  extraordinary  dark,  clouds  com- 
ing up  with  sundown  and  overspreading  all ;  not 
a  star  showed  ;  there  was  only  an  end  of  a  moon, 
and  that  not  due  before  the  small  hours.   Bound 


NIQHT  IN  THE  BUSH  107 

tlie  village,  what  with  the  lights  and  the  fires  in 
the  open  houses,  and  the  torches  of  many  fishers 
moving  on  the  reef,  it  kept  as  gay  as  an  illumi- 
nation; but  the  sea  and  the  mountains  and 
woods  were  all  clean  gone.  I  suppose  it  might 
be  eight  o'clock  when  I  took  the  road,  laden  like 
a  donkey.  First  there  was  that  Bible,  a  book  as 
big  as  your  head,  which  I  had  let  myself  in  for 
by  my  own  tomfoolery.  Then  there  was  my  gun, 
and  knife,  and  lantern,  and  patent  matches,  all 
necessary.  And  then  there  was  the  real  plant 
of  the  afi'air  in  hand,  a  mortal  weight  of  gunpow- 
der, a  pair  of  dynamite  fishing-bombs,  and  two 
or  three  pieces  of  slow  match  that  I  had  hauled 
out  of  the  tin  cases  and  spliced  together  the  best 
way  I  could ;  for  the  match  was  only  trade  stuff, 
and  a  man  would  be  crazy  that  trusted  it.  Alto- 
gether, you  see,  I  had  the  materials  of  a  pretty 
good  blow  up  !  Expense  was  nothing  to  me  ;  I 
wanted  that  thing  done  right. 

As  long  as  I  was  in  the  open,  and  had  the 
lamp  in  my  house  to  steer  by,  I  did  well.  But 
when  I  got  to  the  path,  it  fell  so  dark  I  could 
make  no  headway,  walking  into  trees  and 
swearing  there,  like  a  man  looking  for  the 
matches  in  his  bed-room.  I  knew  it  was  risky 
to  light  up,  for  my  lantern  would  be  visible  all 
the  Avay  to  the  point  of  the  cape,  and  as  no  one 


108  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

went  tliere  after  dark,  it  would  be  talked  about, 
and  come  to  Case's  ears.  But  what  was  I  to 
do?  I  had  either  to  give  the  business  over  and 
lose  caste  with  Maea,  or  light  up,  take  my 
chance,  and  get  through  the  thing  the  smartest 
I  was  able. 

As  long  as  I  was  on  the  path  I  walked  hard, 
but  when  I  came  to  the  black  beach  I  had  to 
run.  For  the  tide  was  now  nearly  flowed  ;  and 
to  get  through  with  my  powder  dry  between  the 
surf  and  the  steep  hill,  took  all  the  quickness  I 
possessed.  As  it  was,  even  the  wash  caught 
me  to  the  knees,  and  I  came  near  falling  on  a 
stone.  All  this  time  the  hurry  I  was  in,  and 
the  free  air  and  smell  of  the  sea,  kept  my 
spirits  lively ;  but  when  I  was  once  in  the  bush 
and  began  to  climb  the  path  I  took  it  easier. 
The  fearsomeness  of  the  wood  had  been  a  good 
bit  rubbed  oif  for  me  by  Master  Case's  banjo- 
strings  and  graven  images,  yet  I  thought  it 
was  a  dreary  walk,  and  guessed,  when  the  dis- 
ciples went  up  there,  they  must  be  badly 
scared.  The  light  of  the  lantern,  striking 
among  all  these  trunks  and  forked  branches 
and  twisted  rope-ends  of  lianas,  made  the 
whole  place,  or  all  that  you  could  see  of  it, 
a  kind  of  a  puzzle  of  turning  shadows.  They 
came  to  meet  you,  solid  and  quick  like  giants, 


NIOHT  IN  THE  BU8H  109 

and  then  spun  off  and  vanished ;  they  hove 
np  over  yonr  head  like  clubs,  and  flew  away 
into  the  night  like  birds.  The  floor  of  the 
bush  glimmered  with  dead  wood,  the  way  the 
match-box  used  to  shine  after  you  had  struck 
a  lucifer.  Big,  cold  drops  fell  on  me  from 
the  branches  overhead  like  sweat.  There  was 
no  wind  to  mention  ;  only  a  little  icy  breath  of 
a  land  breeze  that  stirred  nothing;  and  the 
harps  were  silent. 

The  first  landfall  I  made  was  when  I  got 
through  the  bush  of  wild  cocoanuts,  and  came 
in  view  of  the  bogies  on  the  wall.  Mighty 
queer  they  looked  by  the  shining  of  the  lantern, 
with  their  painted  faces  and  shell  eyes,  and 
their  clothes,  and  their  hair  hanging.  One  after 
another  I  pulled  them  all  up  and  piled  them  in 
a  bundle  on  the  cellar  roof,  so  as  they  might  go 
to  glory  with  the  rest.  Then  I  chose  a  place 
behind  one  of  the  big  stones  at  the  entrance, 
buried  my  powder  and  the  two  shells,  and  ar- 
ranged my  match  along  the  passage.  And  then 
I  had  a  look  at  the  smoking  head,  just  for  good- 
by.     It  was  doing  fine. 

"  Cheer  up,"  says  I.     "  You're  booked." 
It  was  my  first  idea  to  light  up  and  be  get- 
ting   homeward ;    for    the    darkness    and    the 
glimmer   of  the  dead    wood    and  the   shadows 


110  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

of  the  lantern  made  me  lonely.  But  I  knew 
where  one  of  the  harps  hung  ;  it  seemed  a  pity 
it  shouldn't  go  with  the  rest ;  and  at  the  same 
time  I  couldn't  help  letting  on  to  myself  that 
I  was  mortal  tired  of  my  employment,  and 
would  like  best  to  be  at  home  and  have  the 
door  shut.  I  stepped  out  of  the  cellar  and 
argued  it  fore  and  back.  There  was  a  sound 
of  the  sea  far  down  below  me  on  the  coast ; 
nearer  hand  not  a  leaf  stirred ;  I  might  have 
been  the  only  living  creature  this  side  of  Cape 
Horn.  Well,  as  I  stood  there  thinking,  it 
seemed  the  bush  woke  and  became  full  of  little 
noises.  Little  noises  they  were,  and  nothing 
to  hurt ;  a  bit  of  a  crackle,  a  bit  of  a  rush ; 
but  the  breath  jumped  right  out  of  me  and 
my  throat  went  as  dry  as  a  biscuit.  It  wasn't 
Case  I  was  afraid  of,  which  would  have  been 
common-sense ;  I  never  thought  of  Case ;  what 
took  me,  as  sharp  as  the  colic,  was  the  old 
wives'  tales — the  devil-women  and  the  man-pigs. 
It  was  the  toss  of  a  penny  whether  I  should 
run ;  but  I  got  a  purchase  on  myself,  and 
stepped  out,  and  held  up  the  lantern  (like  a  fool) 
and  looked  all  round. 

In  the  direction  of  the  village  and  the  path 
there  was  nothing  to  be  seen ;  but  when  I 
turned  inland  it's  a  wonder  to  me  I  didn't  di'op. 


NIGHT  IN  THE  BUSH  111 

There,  coming  right  up  out  of  the  desert  and 
the  bad  bush — there,  sure  enough,  was  a  devil- 
woman,  just  as  the  way  I  had  figured  she 
would  look.  I  saw  the  light  shine  on  her  bare 
arms  and  her  bright  eyes,  and  there  went  out 
of  me  a  yell  so  big  that  I  thought  it  was  my 
death. 

"  Ah !  No  sing  out  !  "  says  the  devil-woman, 
in  a  kind  of  a  high  whisper.  "  Why  you  talk 
big  voice  ?     Put  out  light  !     Ese  he  come." 

"My  God  Almighty,  Uma,  is  that  you?" 
says  I. 

"  /oe,"  *  says  she.  "  I  come  quick.  Ese  here 
soon." 

"  You  come  along  ? "  I  asked.  "  You  no 
'fraid?" 

"  Ah,  too  much  'fraid  !  "  she  whispered,  clutch- 
ing me.     "  I  think  die." 

"  Well,"  says  I,  with  a  kind  of  a  weak  grin, 
"  I'm  not  the  one  to  laugh  at  you,  Mrs.  Wilt- 
shire, for  I'm  about  the  w^orst  scared  man  in  the 
South  Pacific  myself." 

She  told  me  in  two  words  what  brought  her. 
I  was  scarce  gone,  it  seems,  when  Faavao 
came  in,  and  the  old  woman  had  met  Black 
Jack  running  as  hard  as  he  was  fit  from  our 
house  to  Case's.  Uma  neither  spoke  nor 
*Yes. 


112  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

stopped,  but  lit  right  out  to  come  and  warn 
me.  She  was  so  close  at  my  heels  that  the 
lantern  was  her  guide  across  the  beach,  and 
afterward,  by  the  glimmer  of  it  in  the  trees, 
she  got  her  line  up  hill.  It  was  only  when  I 
had  got  to  the  top  or  was  in  the  cellar  that  she 
wandered — Lord  knows  where  ! — and  lost  a 
sight  of  precious  time,  afraid  to  call  out  lest 
Case  was  at  the  heels  of  her,  and  falling  in  the 
bush,  so  that  she  was  all  knocked  and  bruised. 
That  must  have  been  when  she  got  too  far  to 
the  southward,  and  how  she  came  to  take  me  in 
the  flank  at  last  and  frighten  me  beyond  what 
I've  got  the  words  to  tell  of. 

Well,  anything  was  better  than  a  devil-woman, 
but  I  thought  her  yarn  serious  enough.  Black 
Jack  had  no  call  to  be  about  my  house,  unless 
he  was  set  there  to  watch  ;  and  it  looked  to  me 
as  if  my  tomfool  word  about  the  paint,  and  per- 
haps some  chatter  of  Maea's,  had  got  us  all  in  a 
clove  hitch.  One  thing  was  clear:  Uma  and 
I  were  here  for  the  night ;  we  daren't  try  to  go 
home  before  day,  and  even  then  it  would  be 
safer  to  strike  round  up  the  mountain  and  come 
in  by  the  back  of  the  village,  or  we  might  walk 
into  an  ambuscade.  It  was  plain,  too,  that 
the  mine  should  be  sprung  immediately,  or  Case 
might  be  in  time  to  stop  it. 


NIOHT  IN  THE  BUSH  113 

I  marched  into  tlie  tunnel,  Uma  keeping  tight 
hold  of  me,  opened  my  lantern  and  lit  the  match. 
The  first  length  of  it  burned  like  a  spill  of  paper, 
and  I  stood  stupid,  watching  it  bum,  and  think- 
ing we  were  going  aloft  with  Tiapolo,  which  was 
none  of  my  views.  The  second  took  to  a  better 
rate,  though  faster  than  I  cared  about ;  and  at 
that  I  got  my  wits  again,  hauled  Uma  c^ear  of 
the  passage,  blew  out  and  dropped  the  lantern, 
and  the  pair  of  us  groped  our  way  into  the  bush 
until  I  thought  it  might  be  safe,  and  lay  down 
together  by  a  tree. 

"  Old  lady,"  I  said,  "I  won't  forget  this  night. 
You're  a  trump,  and  that's  what's  wrong  with 

you." 

She  bumped  herself  close  up  to  me.  She  had 
run  out  the  way  she  was,  with  nothing  on  her 
but  her  kilt ;  and  she  was  all  wet  with  the  dews 
and  the  sea  on  the  black  beach,  and  shook  straight 
on  with  cold  and  the  terror  of  the  dark  and 
the  devils. 

"  Too  much  'fraid,"  was  all  she  said. 

The  far  side  of  Case's  hill  goes  down  near  as 
steep  as  a  precipice  into  the  next  valley.  We 
were  on  the  very  edge  of  it,  and  I  could  see  the 
dead  wood  shine  and  hear  the  sea  sound  far  be- 
low. I  didn't  care  about  the  position,  which 
left  me  no  retreat,  but  I  was  afraid  to  change. 
8 


114:  THE  BEACn  OF  F ALES  A 

Then  I  saw  I  had  made  a  worse  mistake  about 
the  lantern,  which  I  should  have  left  lighted,  so 
that  I  could  have  had  a  crack  at  Case  when  he 
stepped  into  the  shine  of  it.  And  since  I  hadn't 
had  the  wit  to  do  that,  it  seemed  a  senseless 
thing  to  leave  the  good  lantern  to  blow  up  with 
the  graven  images.  The  thing  belonged  to  me, 
after  all,  and  was  worth  money,  and  might  come 
in  handy.  If  I  could  have  trusted  the  match, 
I  might  have  run  in  still  and  rescued  it.  But 
who  was  going  to  trust  to  the  match  ?  You  know 
what  trade  is.  The  stuff  was  good  enough  for 
Kanakas  to  go  fishing  with,  where  they've  got 
to  look  lively  anyway,  and  the  most  they  risk  is 
only  to  have  their  hand  blown  off.  But  for  any- 
one that  wanted  to  fool  around  a  blow-up  like 
mine  that  match  was  rubbish. 

Altogether  the  best  I  could  do  was  to  lie  still, 
see  my  shot-gun  handy,  and  wait  for  the  explo- 
sion. But  it  was  a  solemn  kind  of  a  business. 
The  blackness  of  the  night  was  like  solid ;  the 
only  thing  you  could  see  was  the  nasty  bogy 
glimmer  of  the  dead  wood,  and  that  showed  you 
nothing  but  itself  ;  and  as  for  sounds,  I  stretched 
my  ears  till  I  thought  I  could  have  heard  the 
match  burn  in  the  tunnel,  and  that  bush  was  as 
silent  as  a  coffin.  Now  and  then  there  was  a 
bit  of  a  crack ;  but  whether  it  was  near  or  far, 


NIOET  IN  THE  BUSH  115 

whether  it  was  Case  stubbing  his  toes  within  a 
few  yards  of  me,  or  a  tree  breaking  miles  away, 
I  knew  no  more  than  the  babe  unborn. 

And  then,  all  of  a  sudden,  Vesuvius  went  off. 
It  was  a  long  time  coming  ;  but  when  it  came 
(though  I  say  it  that  shouldn't)  no  man  could 
ask  to  see  a  better.  At  first  it  was  just  a  son  of 
a  gun  of  a  row,  and  a  spout  of  fire,  and  the 
wood  lighted  up  so  that  you  could  see  to  read. 
And  then  the  trouble  began.  Uma  and  I  were 
half  buried  under  a  wagonful  of  earth,  and  glad 
it  was  no  worse,  for  one  of  the  rocks  at  the 
entrance  of  the  tunnel  was  fired  clean  into  the 
air,  fell  within  a  couple  of  fathoms  of  where  we 
lay,  and  bounded  over  the  edge  of  the  hill,  and 
went  pounding  down  into  the  next  valley.  I  saw 
I  had  rather  under-calculated  our  distance,  or 
over-done  the  dynamite  and  powder,  which  you 
please. 

And  presently  I  saw  I  had  made  another  slip. 
The  noise  of  the  thing  began  to  die  off,  shaking 
the  island  ;  the  dazzle  was  over  ;  and  yet  the 
night  didn't  come  back  the  way  I  expected.  For 
the  whole  wood  was  scattered  with  red  coals  and 
brands  from  the  explosion ;  they  were  all  round 
me  on  the  flat,  some  had  fallen  below  in  the  val- 
ley, and  some  stuck  and  flared  in  the  tree-tops. 
I  had  no  fear  of  fire,  for  these  forests  are  to  wet 


116  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

to  kindle.  But  the  trouble  was  that  the  place 
was  all  lit  up — not  very  bright,  but  good  enough 
to  get  a  shot  by  ;  and  the  way  the  coals  were 
scattered,  it  was  just  as  likely  Case  might  have 
the  advantage  as  myself.  I  looked  all  round  for 
his  white  face,  you  may  be  sure  ;  but  there  was 
not  a  sign  of  him.  As  for  Uma,  the  life  seemed 
to  have  been  knocked  right  out  of  her  by  the 
bang  and  blaze  of  it. 

There  was  one  bad  point  in  my  game.  One 
of  the  blessed  graven  images  had  come  down  all 
afire,  hair  and  clothes  and  body,  not  four  yards 
away  from  me.  I  cast  a  mighty  noticing  glance 
all  round  ;  there  was  still  no  Case,  and  I  made 
up  my  mind  I  must  get  rid  of  that  burning  stick 
before  he  came,  or  I  should  be  shot  there  like  a 
dog. 

It  was  my  first  idea  to  have  crawled,  and  then 
I  thought  speed  was  the  main  thing,  and  stood 
half  up  to  make  a  rush.  The  same  moment, 
from  somewhere  between  me  and  the  sea,  there 
came  a  flash  and  a  report,  and  a  rifle-bullet 
screeched  in  my  ear.  I  swung  straight  round 
and  up  with  my  gun,  but  the  bnite  had  a  Win- 
chester, and  before  I  could  as  much  as  see  him 
his  second  shot  knocked  me  over  like  a  ninepin. 
I  seemed  to  fly  in  the  air,  then  came  down  by 
the  run  and  lay  half  a  minute,  silly ;  and  then  I 


NIGHT  IN  THE  BUSH  117 

found  my  hands  empty,  and  my  gun  had  flown 
over  my  head  as  I  fell.  It  makes  a  man  mighty 
wide  awake  to  be  in  the  kind  of  box  that  I  was  in. 
I  scarcely  knew  where  I  was  hurt,  or  whether  I 
was  hurt  or  not,  but  turned  right  over  on  my 
face  to  crawl  after  my  weapon.  Unless  you  have 
tried  to  get  about  with  a  smashed  leg  you  don't 
know  what  pain  is,  and  I  let  out  a  howl  like  a 
bullock's. 

This  was  the  unluckiest  noise  that  ever  I 
made  in  my  life.  Up  to  then  Uma  had  stuck  to 
her  tree  like  a  sensible  woman,  knowing  she 
would  be  only  in  the  way  ;  but  as  soon  as  she 
heard  me  sing  out  she  ran  forward.  The  Win- 
chester cracked  again,  and  down  she  went. 

I  had  sat  up,  leg  and  all,  to  stop  her ;  but 
when  I  saw  her  tumble  I  clapped  down  again 
where  I  was,  lay  still,  and  felt  the  handle  of  my 
knife.  I  had  been  scurried  and  put  out  before. 
No  more  of  that  for  me.  He  had  knocked  over 
my  girl,  I  had  got  to  fix  him  for  it  ;  and  I  lay 
there  and  gritted  my  teeth,  and  footed  up  the 
chances.  My  leg  was  broke,  my  gun  was  gone. 
Case  had  still  ten  shots  in  his  Winchester.  It 
looked  a  kind  of  hopeless  business.  But  I  never 
despaired  nor  thought  upon  despairing :  that 
man  had  got  to  go. 

For  a  goodish  bit  not  one  of  us  let  on.    Then 


118  THE  BEACH  OF  F ALES  A 

I  heard  Case  begin  to  move  nearer  in  the  bush, 
but  mighty  careful.  The  image  had  burned  out, 
there  were  only  a  few  coals  left  here  and  there, 
and  the  wood  was  main  dark,  but  had  a  kind 
of  a  low  glow  in  it  like  a  fire  on  its  last  legs. 
It  was  by  this  that  I  made  out  Case's  head  look- 
ing at  me  over  a  big  tuft  of  ferns,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  brute  saw  me  and  shouldered  his 
Winchester.  I  lay  quite  still,  and  as  good  as 
looked  into  the  barrel :  it  was  my  last  chance, 
but  I  thought  my  heart  would  have  come  right 
out  of  its  bearings.  Then  he  fired.  Lucky  for 
me  it  was  no  shot-gun,  for  the  bullet  struck 
within  an  inch  of  me  and  knocked  the  dirt  in 
my  eyes. 

'^  Just  you  try  and  see  if  you  can  lie  quiet,  and 
let  a  man  take  a  sitting  shot  at  you  and  miss 
you  by  a  hair.  But  I  did,  and  lucky,  too.  A 
while  Case  stood  with  the  Winchester  at  the 
port-arms ;  then  he  gave  a  little  laugh  to  him- 
self and  stepped  round  the  ferns. 

"  Laugh  !  "  thought  I.  *'  If  you  had  the  wit 
of  a  louse  you  would  be  praying  !  " 
^  I  was  all  as  taut  as  a  ship's  hawser  or  the 
spring  of  a  watch,  and  as  soon  as  he  came  within 
reach  of  me  I  had  him  by  the  ankle,  plucked  the 
feet  right  out  from  under  him,  laid  him  out,  and 
was  upon  the  top  of  him,  broken  leg  and  all, 


THE   WINCHESTER  CRACKED   AGAIN,    AND   DOWN   SHE   WENT. 


NIGHT  IN  THE  BUSH  119 

before  he  breathed.  His  Winchester  had  gone 
the  same  road  as  my  shot-gun ;  it  was  nothing 
to  me — I  defied  him  now.  I'm  a  pretty  strong 
man  anyway,  but  I  never  knew  what  strength 
was  till  I  got  hold  of  Case.  He  was  knocked 
out  of  time  by  the  rattle  he  came  down  with, 
and  threw  up  his  hands  together,  more  like  a 
frightened  woman,  so  that  I  caught  both  of 
them  with  my  left.  This  wakened  him  up,  and 
he  fastened  his  teeth  in  my  forearm  like  a 
weasel.  Much  I  cared.  My  leg  gave  me  all  the 
pain  I  had  any  use  for,  and  I  drew  my  knife  and 
got  it  in  the  place. 

"  Now,"  said  I,  "  I've  got  you ;  and  you're 
gone  up,  and  a  good  job  too  !  Do  you  feel  the 
point  of  that?  That's  for  Underhill!  And 
there's  for  Adams  !  And  now  here's  for  Uma, 
and  that's  going  to  knock  your  blooming  soul 
right  out  of  you !  " 

With  that  I  gave  him  the  cold  steel  for  all  I 
was  worth.  His  body  kicked  under  me  like  a 
spring  sofa;  he  gave  a  dreadful  kind  of  a  long 
moan,  and  lay  still. 

"  I  wonder  if  you're  dead  ?  I  hope  so  !  "  I 
thought,  for  my  head  was  swimming.  But  I 
wasn't  going  to  take  chances  ;  I  had  his  own 
example  too  close  before  me  for  that ;  and  I 
tried    to   draw  the   knife  out  to  give  it    him 


120  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

again.  The  blood  came  over  my  hands,  I  re- 
member, hot  as  tea;  and  with  that  I  fainted 
clean  away,  and  fell  with  my  head  on  the  man's 
mouth. 

When  I  came  to  myself  it  was  pitch  dark ; 
the  cinders  had  burned  out ;  there  was  nothing 
to  be  seen  but  the  shine  of  the  dead  wood,  and  I 
couldn't  remember  where  I  was  nor  why  I  was  in 
such  pain,  nor  what  I  was  all  wetted  with.  Then 
it  came  back,  and  the  first  thing  I  attended  to 
was  to  give  him  the  knife  again  a  half  a  dozen 
times  up  to  the  handle.  I  believe  he  was  dead 
already,  but  it  did  him  no  harm  and  did  me  good. 

"  I  bet  you're  dead  now,"  I  said,  and  then  I 
called  to  Uma. 

Nothing  answered,  and  I  made  a  move  to  go 
and  grope  for  her,  fouled  my  broken  leg,  and 
fainted  again. 

When  I  came  to  myself  the  second  time  the 
clouds  had  all  cleared  away,  except  a  few  that 
sailed  there,  white  as  cotton.  The  moon  was  up 
— a  tropic  moon.  The  moon  at  home  turns  a 
wood  black,  but  even  this  old  butt-end  of  a  one 
showed  up  that  forest  as  green  as  by  day.  The 
night  birds — or,  rather,  they're  a  kind  of  early 
morning  bird — sang  out  with  their  long,  falling 
notes  like  nightingales.  And  I  could  see  the 
dead  man,  that  I  was  still  half  resting  on  look- 


NIOHT  IN  THE  BUSH  121 

ing  right  up  into  the  sky  with  his  open  eyes,  no 
paler  than  when  he  was  alive  ;  and  a  little  way 
off  Uma  tumbled  on  her  side.  I  got  over  to  her 
the  best  way  I  was  able,  and  when  I  got  there 
she  was  broad  awake  and  crying,  and  sobbing  to 
herself  with  no  more  noise  than  an  insect.  It 
appears  she  was  affaid  to  cry  out  loud,  because 
of  the  aitus.  Altogether  she  was  not  much  hurt, 
but  scared  beyond  belief ;  she  had  come  to  her 
senses  a  long  while  ago,  cried  out  to  me,  heard 
nothing  in  reply,  made  out  we  were  both  dead, 
and  had  lain  there  ever  since,  afraid  to  budge  a 
finger.  The  ball  had  ploughed  up  her  shoulder, 
and  she  had  lost  a  main  quantity  of  blood  ;  but 
I  soon  had  that  tied  up  the  way  it  ought  to  be 
with  the  tail  of  my  shirt  and  a  scarf  I  had  on, 
got  her  head  on  my  sound  knee  and  my  back 
against  a  trunk,  and  settled  down  to  wait  for 
morning.  Uma  was  for  neither  use  nor  orna- 
ment, and  could  only  clutch  hold  of  me  and 
shake  and  cry.  I  don't  suppose  there  was  ever 
anybody  worse  scared,  and,  to  do  her  justice,  she 
had  had  a  lively  night  of  it.  As  for  me,  I  was 
in  a  good  bit  of  pain  and  fever,  but  not  so  bad 
when  I  sat  still ;  and  every  time  I  looked  over 
to  Case  I  could  have  sung  and  whistled.  Talk 
about  meat  and  drink !  To  see  that  man  lying 
there  dead  as  a  herring  filled  me  full. 


122  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

The  night  birds  stopped  after  a  while ;  and 
then  the  light  began  to  change,  the  east  came 
orange,  the  whole  wood  began  to  whirr  with  sing- 
ing like  a  musical  box,  and  there  was  the  broad 
day. 

I  didn't  expect  Maea  for  a  long  while  yet ; 
and,  indeed,  I  thought  there  was  an  off-chance 
he  might  go  back  on  the  whole  idea  and  not 
come  at  all.  I  was  the  better  pleased  when* 
about  an  hour  after  daylight,  I  heard  sticks 
smashing  and  a  lot  of  Kanakas  laughing  and 
singing  out  to  keep  their  courage  up.  Uma  sat 
up  quite  brisk  at  the  first  word  of  it ;  and  pres- 
ently we  saw  a  party  come  stringing  out  of 
the  path,  Maea  in  front,  and  behind  him  a  white 
man  in  a  pith  helmet.  It  was  Mr.  Tarleton, 
who  had  turned  up  late  last  night  in  Falesa, 
having  left  his  boat  and  walked  the  last  stage 
with  a  lantern. 

They  buried  Case  upon  the  field  of  glory, 
right  in  the  hole  where  he  had  kept  the  smoking 
head.  I  waited  till  the  thing  was  done  ;  and 
Mr.  Tarleton  prayed,  which  I  thought  tom-fool- 
ery,  but  I'm  bound  to  say  he  gave  a  pretty 
sick  view  of  the  dear  departed's  prospects,  and 
seemed  to  have  his  o^vn  ideas  of  hell.  I  had  it 
out  with  him  afterward,  told  him  he  had  scamped 
his  duty,  and  what  he  had  ought  to  have  don<^ 


NIGHT  IN  THE  BUSH  123 

was  to  up  like  a  man  and  tell  the  Kanakas 
plainly  Case  was  damned,  and  a  good  riddance  ; 
but  I  never  could  get  him  to  see  it  my  way. 
Then  they  made  me  a  litter  of  poles  and  carried 
me  down  to  the  station.  Mr.  Tarleton  set  my 
leg,  and  made  a  regular  missionary  splice  of  it, 
so  that  I  limp  to  this  day.  That  done,  he  took 
down  my  evidence,  and  Uma's,  and  Maea's,  wrote 
it  all  out  fine,  and.  had  us  sign  it ;  and  then  he 
got  the  chiefs  and  marched  over  to  Papa  Ran- 
dall's to  seize  Case's  papers. 

All  they  found  was  a  bit  of  a  diary,  kept  for 
a  good  many  years,  and  all  about  the  price  of 
copra,  and  chickens  being  stolen,  and  that ;  and 
the  books  of  the  business  and  the  will  I  told 
you  of  in  the  beginning,  by  both  of  which  the 
whole  thing  (stock,  lock,  and  barrel)  appeared 
to  belong  to  the  Samoa  woman.  It  was  I  that 
bought  her  out  at  a  mighty  reasonable  figure,  for 
she  was  in  a  hurry  to  get  home.  As  for  Eandall 
and  the  black,  they  had  to  tramp  ;  got  into  some 
kind  of  a  station  on  the  Papa-malulu  side  ;  did 
very  bad  business,  for  the  truth  is  neither  of 
the  pair  was  fit  for  it,  and  lived  mostly  on  fish, 
which  was  the  means  of  Eandall's  death.  It 
seems  there  was  a  nice  shoal  in  one  day,  and 
papa  went  after  them  with  the  dynamite  ;  either 
the  match  burned  too  fast,  or  papa  was  full,  or 


124  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

both,  but  the  shell  went  off  (in  the  usual  way) 
before  he  threw  it,  and  where  was  papa's  hand  ? 
Well,  there's  nothing  to  hurt  in  that ;  the  islands 
up  north  are  all  full  of  one-handed  men,  like  the 
parties  in  the  "  Arabian  Nights ; "  but  either 
Randall  was  too  old,  or  he  drank  too  much,  and 
the  short  and  the  long  of  it  was  that  he  died. 
Pretty  soon  after,  the  nigger  was  turned  out  of 
the  island  for  stealing  from  white  men,  and  went 
off  to  the  west,  where  he  found  men  of  his  own 
color,  in  case  he  liked  that,  and  the  men  of  his 
own  color  took  and  ate  him  at  some  kind  of  a 
corroborree,  and  I'm  sure  I  hope  he  was  to  their 
fancy ! 

So  there  was  I,  left  alone  in  my  glory  at 
Falesa ;  and  when  the  schooner  came  round  I 
filled  her  up,  and  gave  her  a  deck  cargo  half  as 
high  as  the  house.  I  must  say  Mr.  Tarleton  did 
the  right  thing  by  us ;  but  he  took  a  meanish 
kind  of  a  revenge. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Wiltshire,"  said  he,  "  Ive  put  you 
all  square  with  everybody  here.  It  wasn't  diffi- 
cult to  do.  Case  being  gone  ;  but  I  have  done  it, 
and  given  my  pledge  besides  that  you  will  deal 
fairly  with  the  natives.  I  must  ask  you  to  keep 
my  word." 

Well,  so  I  did.  I  used  to  be  bothered  about 
my  balances,  but  I  reasoned  it  out  this  way. 


NIGHT  IN  THE  BUSH  125 

We  all  have  queerish  balances,  and  the  natives 
all  know  it  and  water  tlieir  copra  in  a  proportion 
so  that  it's  fair  all  round  ;  but  the  truth  is,  it 
did  use  to  bother  me,  and,  though  I  did  well  in 
Falesa,  I  was  half  glad  when  the  firm  moved 
me  on  to  another  station,  where  I  was  under  no 
kind  of  a  pledge  and  could  look  my  balances  in 
the  face. 

As  for  the  old  lady,  you  know  her  as  well  as 
I  do.  She's  only  the  one  fault.  If  you  don't 
keep  your  eye  lifting  she  would  give  away  the 
roof  off  the  station.  Well,  it  seems  it's  natural 
in  Kanakas.  She's  turned  a  powerful  big  woman 
now,  and  could  throw  a  London  bobby  over  her 
shoulder.  But  that's  natural  in  Kanakas  too, 
and  there's  no  manner  of  doubt  that  she's  an  A 1 
wife. 

Mr.  Tarleton's  gone  home,  his  trick  being 
over.  He  was  the  best  missionary  I  ever  struck, 
and  now,  it  seems,  he's  parsonising  down  Somer- 
set way.  Well,  that's  best  for  him ;  he'll  have 
no  Kanakas  there  to  get  luny  over. 

My  public-house  ?  Not  a  bit  of  it,  nor  ever 
likely.  I'm  stuck  here,  I  fancy.  I  don't  like 
to  leave  the  kids,  you  see  :  and — there's  no  use 
talking  —  they're  better  here  than  what  they 
would  be  in  a  white  man's  country,  though  Ben 
took  the    eldest   up    to  Auckland,  where    he's 


126  THE  BEACH  OF  FALESA 

being  scliooled  with  the  best.  But  what  both- 
ers me  is  the  girls.  They're  only  half-castes, 
of  course ;  I  know  that  as  well  as  you  do,  and 
there's  nobody  thinks  less  of  half-castes  than 
I  do  ;  but  they're  mine,  and  about  all  I've  got. 
I  can't  reconcile  my  mind  to  their  taking  up 
with  Kanakas,  and  I'd  like  to  know  where  I'm 
to  find  the  whites  ? 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP 


Note. — Any  student  of  that  very  unliterary  product,  the 
English  drama  of  the  early  part  of  the  century,  will  here  rec- 
ognize the  name  and  the  root  idea  of  a  piece  once  rendered 
popular  by  the  redoubtable  B.  Smith.  The  root  idea  is 
there  and  identical,  and  yet  I  believe  I  have  made  it  a  new- 
thing.  And  the  fact  that  the  tale  has  been  designed  and 
written  for  a  Polynesian  audience  may  lend  it  some  extra- 
neous interest  nearer  home. — R.  L.  S. 


THEKE  was  a  man  of  the  island  of  Hawaii, 
whom  I  shall  call  Keawe  ;  for  the  truth 
is,  he  still  lives,  and  his  name  must  be 
kept  secret ;  but  the  place  of  his  birth  was  not 
far  from  Honaunau,  where  the  bones  of  Keawe 
the  Great  lie  hidden  in  a  cave.  This  man  was 
poor,  brave,  and  active  ;  he  could  read  and  write 
like  a  schoolmaster  ;  he  was  a  first-rate  mariner 
besides,  sailed  for  some  time  in  the  island  steam- 
ers, and  steered  a  whaleboat  on  the  Hamakua 
coast.  At  length  it  came  in  Keawe's  mind  to 
have  a  sight  of  the  great  world  and  foreign 
9 


130  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

cities,  and  lie  shipped  on  a  vessel  bound  to  San 
Francisco. 

This  is  a  fine  town,  with  a  fine  harbor,  and 
rich  people  uncountable  ;  and,  in  particular, 
there  is  one  hill  which  is  covered  with  palaces. 
Upon  this  hill  Keawe  was  one  day  taking  a 
walk  with  his  pocket  full  of  money,  viewing  the 
great  houses  upon  either  hand  Avith  pleasure. 
"  What  fine  houses  there  are  !  "  he  was  thinking, 
"and  how  happy  must  these  people  be  who 
dwell  in  them,  and  take  no  care  for  the  mor- 
row !  "  The  thought  was  in  his  mind  when  he 
came  abreast  of  a  house  that  was  smaller  than 
some  others,  but  all  finished  and  beautified  like 
a  toy ;  the  steps  of  that  house  shone  like  silver, 
and  the  borders  of  the  garden  bloomed  like  gar- 
lands, and  the  windows  were  bright  like  dia- 
monds ;  and  Keawe  stopped  and  wondered  at 
the  excellence  of  all  he  saw.  So  stopping,  he 
was  aware  of  a  man  that  looked  forth  upon  him 
through  a  window,  so  clear,  that  Keawe  could 
see  him  as  you  see  a  fish  in  a  pool  upon  the  reef. 
The  man  was  elderly,  with  a  bald  head  and  a 
black  beard ;  and  his  face  was  heavy  with  sorrow, 
and  he  bitterly  sighed.  And  the  truth  of  it  is, 
that  as  Keawe  looked  in  upon  the  man,  and  the 
man  looked  out  upon  Keawe,  each  envied  the 
other. 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  131 

All  of  a  sudden  the  man  smiled  and  nodded, 
and  beckoned  Keawe  to  enter,  and  met  him  at 
the  door  of  the  house. 

■  "  This  is  a  iine  house  of  mine,"  said  the  man, 
and  bitterly  sighed.  "  Would  you  not  care  to 
view  the  chambers  ?  " 

So  he  led  Keawe  all  over  it,  from  the  cellar 
to  the  roof,  and  there  was  nothing  there  that 
was  not  perfect  of  its  kind,  and  Keawe  was 
astonished. 

"Truly,"  said  Keawe,  "this  is  a  beautiful 
house ;  if  I  lived  in  the  like  of  it,  I  should  be 
laughing  all  day  long.  How  comes  it,  then,  that 
you  should  be  sighing  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  reason,"  said  the  man,  *'  why 
you  should  not  have  a  house  in  all  points  sim- 
ilar to  this,  and  finer,  if  you  wish.  You  have 
some  money,  I  suppose?  " 

"  I  have  fifty  dollars,"  said  Keawe ;  "  but  a 
house  like  this  will  cost  more  than  fifty  dol- 
lars." 

The  man  made  a  computation.  "lam  sorry 
you  have  no  more,"  said  he,  "  for  it  may  raise 
you  trouble  in  the  future  ;  but  it  shall  be  yours 
at  fifty  dollars." 

"  The  house  ?  "  asked  Keawe. 

"  No,  not  the  house,"  replied  the  man  ;  "  but 
the  bottle.     For,   I    must  tell  you,  although  1 


132  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

appear  to  you  so  ricli  and  fortunate,  all  my 
fortune,  and  this  bouse  itself  and  its  garden, 
came  out  of  a  bottle  not  much  bigger  than  a 
pint.  This  is  it." 
.  And  he  opened  a  lockfast  place,  and  took 
out  a  round-bellied  bottle  with  a  long  neck  ; 
the  glass  of  it  was  white  like  milk,  with 
changing  rainbow  colors  in  the  grain.  "Within- 
sides  something  obscurely  moved,  like  a  shadow 
and  a  fire. 
^*  "  This  is  the  bottle,"  said  the  man  ;  and,  when 
Keawe  laughed,  "  You  do  not  believe  me  ?  "  he 
added.  "Try,  then,  for  yourself.  See  if  you 
can  break  it." 

So  Keawe  took  the  bottle  up  and  dashed  it  on 
the  floor  till  he  was  weary ;  but  it  jumped  on  the 
floor  like  a  child's  ball,  and  was  not  injured. 

"This  is  a  strange  thing,"  said  Keawe.  "  For 
by  the  touch  of  it,  as  well  as  by  the  look,  the 
bQttle  should  be  of  glass." 
A  "Of  glass  it  is,"  replied  the  man,  sighing 
more  heavily  than  ever;  "but  the  glass  of  it 
was  tempered  in  the  flames  of  hell.  An  imp 
lives  in  it,  and  that  is  the  shadow  we  behold 
there  moving;  or,  so  I  suj^pose.  If  any  man 
buy  this  bottle  the  imp  is  at  his  command  ; 
all  that  he  desires — love,  fame,  money,  houses 
.     like  this  house,  ay,  or  a  city  like  this  city — all 


V 


J>/ 


THIS   IS   THE   BOTTLE,"    SAID   THE   MAN. 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  133 

are  liis  at  the  word  uttered.  Napoleon  had 
this  bottle,  and  by  it  he  grew  to  be  the  king 
of  the  world;  but  he  sold  it  at  the  last  and 
fell.  Captain  Cook  had  this  bottle,  and  by  it  he 
found  his  way  to  so  many  islands  ;  but  he,  too, 
sold  it,  and  was  slain  upon  Hawaii.  For,  once 
it  is  sold,  the  power  goes  and  the  protection  ; 
and  unless  a  man  remain  content  with  what  he 
has,  ill  will  befall  him."  ,^  .^ 

"And  yet  you  talk  of  selling  it  yourself?" 
Keawe  said. 

"  I  have  all  I  wish,  and  I  am  growing  elder- 
ly," replied  the  man.  "  There  is  one  thing  the 
imp  cannot  do — he  cannot  prolong  life  ;  and,  it 
would  not  be  fair  to  conceal  from  you  there  is  a 
drawback  to  the  bottle ;  for  if  a  man  die  before 
he  sells  it,  he  must  burn  in  hell  forever." 

"  To  be  sure,  that  is  a  drawback  and  no  mis- 
take," cried  Keawe.  "  I  would  not  meddle  with 
the  thing.  I  can  do  without  a  house,  thank 
God ;  but  there  is  one  thing  I  could  not  be 
doing  with  one  particle,  and  that  is  to  be 
damned." 

"  Dear  me,  you  must  not  run  away  with 
things,"  returned  the  man.  "  All  you  have  to 
do  is  to  use  the  power  of  the  imp  in  moderation, 
and  then  sell  it  to  someone  else,  as  I  do  to  you, 
and  finish  your  life  in  comfort."  ^^ 


134:  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

""Well,  I  observe  two  things,"  said  Keawe. 
"  All  the  time  you  keep  sighing  like  a  maid  in 
love,  that  is  one  ;  and,  for  the  other,  you  sell 
this  bottle  very  cheap." 

"  I  have  told  you  already  why  I  sigh,"  said 
the  man.  "  It  is  because  I  fear  my  health  is 
breaking  up ;  and,  as  you  said  yourself,  to  die 
and  go  to  the  devil  is  a  pity  for  anyone.  As  for 
why  I  sell  so  cheap,  I  must  explain  to  you  there 
is  a  peculiarity  about  the  bottle.  Long  ago, 
wdien  the  devil  brought  it  first  upon  earth,  it  was 
extremely  expensive,  and  was  sold  first  of  all  to 
Prester  John  for  many  millions  of  dollars ;  but 
it  cannot  be  sold  at  all,  unless  sold  at  a  loss. ;  If 
you  sell  it  for  as  much  as  you  paid  for  it,  back 
it  comes  to  you  again  like  a  homing  pigeon.  It 
follows  that  the  price  has  kept  falling  in  these 
centuries,  and  the  bottle  is  now  remarkably 
cheap.  I  bought  it  myself  from  one  of  my 
great  neighbors  on  this  hill,  and  the  price  I 
paid  Avas  only  ninety  dollars.  I  could  sell  it 
for  as  high  as  eighty -nine  dollars  and  ninety- 
nine  cents,  but  not  a  penny  dearer,  or  back  the 
thing  must  come  to  me.  Now,  about  this 
there  are  two  bothers.  First,  when  you  offer  a 
bottle  so  singular  for  eighty  odd  dollars,  people 
suppose  you  to  be  jesting.  ^  And  second — but 
there  is  no  hurry  about  that — and  I  need  not  go 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  135 

into  it.  Only  remember  it  must  be  coined 
money  that  you  sell  it  for.'^ 

"  How  am  I  to  know  that  this  is  all  true  ?  " 
asked  Keawe. 

"  Some  of  it  you  can  try  at  once,"  replied  the 
man.  "  Give  me  your  fifty  dollars,  take  the  bot- 
tle, and  wish  your  fifty  dollars  back  into  your 
pocket.  If  that  does  not  happen,  I  pledge  you 
my  honor  I  will  cry  off  the  bargain  and  restore 
your  money." 

"  You  are  not  deceiving  me  ?  "  said  Keawe. 

The  man  bound  himself  with  a  great  oath. 

"  Well,  I  will  risk  that  much,"  said  Keawe, 
"  for  that  can  do  no  harm,"  and  he  paid  over  his 
money  to  the  man,  and  the  man  handed  him  the 
bottle. 

"  Imp  of  the  bottle,"  said  Keawe,  "  I  want 
my  fifty  dollars  back."  And  sure  enough  he  had 
scarce  said  the  word  before  his  pocket  was  as 
heavy  as  ever. 

"  To  be  sure  this  is  a  wonderful  bottle,"  said 
Keawe. 

"And  now  good-morning  to  you,  my  fine  fel- 
low, and  the  devil  go  with  you  for  me,"  said  the 
man. 

"  Hold  on,"  said  Keawe,  "  I  don't  want  any 
more  of  this  fun.    Here,  take  your  bottle  back." 

"  You  have  bought  it  for  less  than  I  paid  for 


136  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

it,"  replied  the  man,  rubbing  his  hands.  "  It  is 
yours  now;  and,  for  my  part,  I  am  only  con- 
cerned to  see  the  back  of  you."  And  with  that 
he  rang  for  his  Chinese  servant,  and  had  Keawe 
shown  out  of  the  house. 

Now,  when  Keawe  was  in  the  street,  with  the 
bottle  under  his  arm,  he  began  to  think.  "  If  all 
is  true  about  this  bottle,  I  may  have  made  a 
losing  bargain,"  thinks  he. '  "  But,  perhaps  the 
man  was  only  fooling  me."  The  first  thing  he 
did  was  to  count  his  money  ;  the  sum  was  exact 
— forty-nine  dollars  American  money,  and  one 
Chili  piece.  "  That  looks  like  the  truth,"  said 
Keawe.     "  Now  I  will  try  another  part." 

The  streets  in  that  part  of  the  city  were  as 
clean  as  a  ship's  decks,  and  though  it  was  noon, 
there  were  no  passengers.  Keawe  set  the  bot- 
tle in  the  gutter  and  walked  away.  Twice  he 
looked  back,  and  there  was  the  milky,  round - 
bellied  bottle  where  he  left  it.  A  third  time  he 
looked  back,  and  turned  a  corner ;  but  he  had 
scarce  done  so,  when  something  knocked  upon 
his  elbow,  and  behold !  It  was  the  long  neck 
sticking  up  ;  and,  as  for  the  round  belly,  it  was 
jammed  into  the  pocket  of  his  pilot-coat. 

"And  that  looks  like  the  truth,"  said  Keawe. 

The  next  thing  he  did  was  to  buy  a  corkscrew 
in  a  shop,  and  go  apart  into  a  secret  place  in  the 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  137 

fields.  And  there  he  tried  to  draw  the  cork,  but 
as  often  as  he  put  the  screw  in,  out  it  came 
again,  and  the  cork  as  whole  as  ever. 

"  This  is  some  new  sort  of  cork,"  said  Keawe, 
and  all  at  once  he  began  to  shake  and  s\v  eat,  fur 
he  was  afraid  of  that  bottle. 

On  his  way  back  to  the  port-side  he  saw  a 
shop  where  a  man  sold  shells  and  clubs  from  the 
wild  islands,  old  heathen  deities,  old  coined 
money,  pictures  from  China  and  Japan,  and  all 
manner  of  things  that  sailors  bring  in  their  sea- 
chests.  And  here  he  had  an  idea.  So  he  went 
in  and  offered  the  bottle  for  a  hundred  dollars. 
The  man  of  the  shop  laughed  at  him  at  the  first, 
and  offered  him  five  ;^but,  indeed,  it  was  a  curi- 
ous bottle,  such  glass  was  never  blown  in  any 
human  glassworks,  so  prettily  the  colors  shone 
tinder  the  milky  white,  and  so  strangely  the 
shadow  hovered  in  the  midst ;  so,  after  he  had 
disputed  awhile  after  the  manner  of  his  kind, 
the  shopman  gave  Keawe  sixty  silver  dollars  for 
the  thing  and  set  it  on  a  shelf  in  the  midst  of 
his  window. 

"  Now,"  said  Keawe,  "  I  have  sold  that  for 
sixty  which  I  bought  for  fifty — or,  to  say 
truth,  a  little  less,  because  one  of  my  dollars  was 
from  Chili.  Now  I  shall  know  the  truth  upon 
another  point."^ 


138  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

So  he  went  back  on  board  liis  ship,  and  wlien 
he  opened  his  chest,  there  was  the  bottle,  and 
had  come  more  quickly  than  himseK.  Now 
Keawe  had  a  mate  on  board  whose  name  was 
Lopaka. 

"  What  ails  you  ?  "  said  Lopaka,  "  that  you 
stare  in  your  chest  ?  " 

They  were  alone  in  the  ship's  forecastle,  and 
Keawe  bound  him  to  secrecy,  and  told  all. 

"  This  is  a  very  strange  affair,"  said  Lopaka  ; 
"  and  I  fear  you  will  be  in  trouble  about  this 
bottle.  But  there  is  one  point  very  clear — that 
you  are  sure  of  the  trouble,  and  you  had  better 
have  the  profit  in  the  bargain.  Make  up  your 
mind  what  you  want  with  it ;  give  the  order,  and 
if  it  is  done  as  you  desire,  I  will  buy  the  bottle 
myself ;  for  I  have  an  idea  of  my  own  to  get  a 
schooner,  and  go  trading  through  the  islands." 

"  That  is  not  my  idea,"  said  Keawe  ;  "  but  to 
have  a  beautiful  house  and  garden  on  the  Kona 
Coast,  where  I  was  born,  the  sun  shining  in  at 
the  door,  flowers  in  the  garden,  glass  in  the  win- 
dows, pictures  on  the  walls,  and  toys  and  fine 
carpets  on  the  tables,  for  all  the  world  like  the 
house  I  was  in  this  day — only  a  story  higher, 
and  with  balconies  all  about  like  the  King's 
palace  ;  and  to  live  there  without  care  and  make 
merry  with  my  friends  and  relatives." 


^       or  THE 


^■"VERSITY 1 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  139 

*'  Well,"  said  Lopaka,  "  let  us  carry  it  back 
with  us  to  Hawaii ;  and  if  all  comes  true,  as  you 
suppose,  I  will  buy  the  bottle,  as  I  said,  and  ask 
a  schooner." 

Upon  that  they  were  agreed,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  the  ship  returned  to  Honolulu, 
carrying  Keawe  and  Lopaka,  and  the  bottle. 
They  were  scarce  come  ashore  when  they  met  a 
friend  upon  the  beach,  who  began  at  once  to 
condole  with  Keawe. 

"I  do  not  know  what  I  am  to  be  condoled 
about,"  said  Keawe. 

"  Is  it  possible  you  have  not  heard,"  said  the 
friend,  "your  uncle — that  good  old  man — is 
dead,  and  your  cousin — that  beautiful  boy — was 
drowned  at  sea  ?  " 

Keawe  was  filled  with  sorrow,  and,  begin- 
ning to  weep  and  to  lament,  he  forgot  about  the 
bottle.  But  Lopaka  was  thinking  to  himself, 
and  presently,  when  Keawe's  grief  was  a  little 
abated,  "  I  have  been  thinking,"  said  Lopaka, 
*'  had  not  your  uncle  lands  in  Hawaii,  in  the 
district  of  Kau  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Keawe,  "not  in  Kau:  they  are 
on  the  mountain-side — a  little  be  south  Hoo- 
kena." 

"  These  lands  will  now  be  yours  ?  "  asked  Lo- 
paka. 


140  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

"And  SO  they  will,"  says  Keawe,  and  began 
again  to  lament  for  his  relatives. 

"  No,"  said  Lopaka,  "  do  not  lament  at  pres- 
ent. I  have  a  thought  in  my  mind.  How  if  this 
should  be  the  doing  of  the  bottle  ?  For  here  is 
the  place  ready  for  your  house." 

"  If  this  be  so,"  cried  Keawe,  "  it  is  a  very  ill 
way  to  serve  me  by  killing  my  relatives.  But 
it  may  be,  indeed ;  for  it  was  in  just  such  a  sta- 
tion that  I  saw  the  house  with  my  mind's  eye." 

"The  house,  however,  is  not  yet  built,"  said 
Lopaka. 

"  No,  nor  like  to  be  !  "  said  Keawe  ;  "  for 
though  my  uncle  has  some  coffee  and  ava  and 
bananas,  it  will  not  be  more  than  will  keep  me  in 
comfort ;  and  the  rest  of  that  land  is  the  black 
lava." 

"  Let  us  go  to  the  lawyer,"  said  Lopaka  ;  "  I 
have  still  this  idea  in  my  mind." 

Now,  when  they  came  to  the  lawyer's,  it 
appeared  Keawe's  uncle  had  grown  monstrous 
rich  in  the  last  days,  and  there  was  a  fund  of 
money. 

"  And  here  is  the  money  for  the  house  !  "  cried 
Lopaka. 

"  If  you  are  thinking  of  a  new  house,"  said  the 
lawyer,  "  here  is  the  card  of  a  new  architect,  of 
whom  they  tell  me  great  things." 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  141 

"  Better  and  better !  "  cried  Lopaka.  "  Here 
is  all  made  plain  for  us.  Let  us  continue  to 
obey  orders." 

So  they  went  to  the  architect,  and  he  had 
drawings  of  houses  on  his  table. 

*'  You  want  something  out  of  the  way,"  said 
the  architect.  "  How  do  you  like  this  ?  "  and 
he  lianded  a  drawing  to  Keawe. 

Now,  when  Keawe  set  eyes  on  the  drawing, 
he  cried  out  aloud,  for  it  was  the  picture  of  his 
thought  exactly  drawn.  * 

"  I  am  in  for  this  house,"  thought  he.  "  Little 
as  I  like  the  way  it  comes  to  me,  I  am  in  for  it 
now,  and  I  may  as  well  take  the  good  along  with 
the  evil." 

"I^So  he  told  the  architect  all  that  he  wished, 
and  how  he  would  have  that  house  furnished, 
and  about  the  pictures  on  the  wall  and  the 
knick-knacks  on  the  tables ;  and  he  asked  the 
man  plainly  for  how  much  he  would  undertake 
the  whole  affair. 

The  architect  put  many  questions,  and  took 
his  pen  and  made  a  computation  ;  and  when 
he  had  done  he  named  the  very  sum  that 
Keawe  had  inherited. 

Lopaka  and  Keawe  looked  at  one  another 
and  nodded.  * 

"  It  is  quite  clear,"  thought  Keawe,  "  that  I 


142  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

am  to  have  this  house,  whether  or  no.  It  comes 
from  the  devil,  and  I  fear  I  will  get  little  good  i 
by  that ;  and  of  one  thing  I  am  sure,  I  will 
make  no  more  wishes  as  long  as  I  have  this 
bottle.  But  with  the  house  I  am  saddled,  and 
I  may  as  well  take  the  good  along  with  the 
evil." 

So  he  made  his  terms  with  the  architect, 
and  they  signed  a  paper ;  and  Keawe  and  Lo- 
paka  took  ship  again  and  sailed  to  Australia  ; 
for  it  was  concluded  between  them  they  should 
not  interfere  at  all,  but  leave  the  architect  and 
the  bottle -imp  to  build  and  to  adorn  that  house 
at  their  own  pleasure. 

The  voyage  was  a  good  voyage,  only  all  the 
time  Keawe  was  holding  in  his  breath,  for  he 
had  sworn  he  would  utter  no  more  wishes,  and 
take  no  more  favors,  from  the  devil.  The  time 
was  up  when  they  got  back.  The  architect  told 
them  that  the  house  was  ready,  and  Keawe  and 
Lopaka  took  a  passage  in  the  Hall,  and  went 
down  Kona  way  to  view  the  house,  and  see  if  all 
had  been  done  fitly  according  to  the  thought  that 
was  in  Keawe's  mind. 

'"'^Now,  the  house  stood  on  the  mountain  side, 
visible  to  ships.  Above,  the  forest  ran  up  into 
the  clouds  of  rain  ;  below,  the  black  lava  fell  in 
cliffs,  where   the   kings  of   old  lay  buried.     A 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  143 

garden  bloomed  about  that  house  with  every  hue 
of  flowers ;  and  there  was  an  orchard  of  papaia 
on  the  one  hand  and  an  orchard  of  herdprint  on 
the  other,  and  right  in  front,  toward  the  sea,  a 
ship's  mast  had  been  rigged  up  and  bore  a  flag. 
As  for  the  house,  it  was  three  stories  high,  with 
great  chambers  and  broad  balconies  on  each. 
The  windows  were  of  glass,  so  excellent  that  it 
was  as  clear  as  water  and  as  bright  as  day.  AH 
manner  of  furniture  adorned  the  chambers. 
Pictures  hung  upon  the  wall  in  golden  frames — 
pictures  of  ships,  and  men  fighting,  and  of  the 
most  beautiful  women,  and  of  singular  places  ; 
nowhere  in  the  world  are  there  pictures  of  so 
bright  a  color  as  those  Keawe  found  hanging  in 
his  house.  As  for  the  knick-knacks,  they  were 
extraordinarily  fine ;  chiming  clocks  and  musical 
boxes,  little  men  with  nodding  heads,  books 
filled  with  pictures,  weapons  of  price  from  all 
quarters  of  the  world,  and  the  most  elegant 
puzzles  to  entertain  the  leisure  of  a  solitary  man._ 
And  as  no  one  would  care  to  live  in  such 
chambers,  only  to  walk  through  and  view  them, 
the  balconies  were  made  so  broad  that  a  whole 
town  might  have  lived  upon  them  in  delight ; 
and  Keawe  knew  not  which  to  prefer,  whether 
the  back  porch,  where  you  get  the  land  breeze, 
and  looked  upon  the  orchards  and  the  flowers,  or 


;^^ 


144  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

the  front  balcony,  where  you  could  drink  the 
wind  of  the  sea,  and  look  down  the  steep  wall  of 
the  mountain  and  see  the  Hall  going  by  once  a 
week  or  so  between  Hookena  and  the  hills  of 
Pele,  or  the  schooners  plying  up  the  coast  for 
wood  and  ava  and  bananas. 

When  they  had  viewed  all,  Keawe  and  Lopaka 
sat  on  the  porch. 

"Well,"  asked  Lopaka,  "is  it  all  as  you  de- 
signed?" 

"  Words  cannot  utter  it,"  said  Keawe.  "  It  is 
better  than  I  dreamed,  and  I  am  sick  with  satis- 
faction." 

"  There  is  but  one  thing  to  consider,"  said 
Lopaka,  "  all  this  may  be  quite  natural,  and  the 
bottle-imp  have  nothing  whatever  to  say  to  it. 
If  I  were  to  buy  the  bottle,  and  got  no  schooner 
after  all,  I  should  have  put  my  hand  in  the  fire 
for  nothing.  I  gave  you  my  word,  I  know ; 
but  yet  I  think  you  would  not  grudge  me  one 
more  proof." 

"  I  have  sworn  I  would  take  no  more  favors," 
said  Keawe.  "  I  have  gone  already  deep 
enough." 

"  This  is  no  favor  I  am  thinking  of,"  replied 
Lopaka.  "  It  is  only  to  see  the  imp  himself. 
There  is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  that,  and  so 
nothing  to  be  ashamed  of,  and  yet,  if  I  once  saw 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  145 

him,  I  should  be  sure  of  the  whole  matter.  So 
indulge  me  so  far,  and  let  me  see  the  imp  ;  and, 
after  that,  here  is  the  money  in  my  hand,  and  I 
will  buy  it." 

"  There  is  only  one  thing  I  am  afraid  of,"  said 
Keawe.  "  The  imp  may  be  very  ugly  to  view, 
and  if  you  once  set  eyes  upon  him  you  might  be 
very  undesirous  of  the  bottle." 

*'  I  am  a  man  of  my  word,"  said  Lopaka. 
"And  here  is  the  money  betwixt  us." 

"  Very  well,"  replied  Keawe,  "  I  have  a  curi- 
osity myself.  So  come,  let  us  have  one  look  at 
you,  Mr.  Imp."  ' 

Now  as  soon  as  that  was  said,  the  imp  looked 
out  of  the  bottle,  and  in  again,  swift  as  a  lizard  ; 
and  there  sat  Keawe  and  Lopaka  turned  to  stone. 
The  night  had  quite  come,  before  either  found  a 
thought  to  say  or  voice  to  say  it  with  ;  and  then 
Lopaka  pushed  the  money  over  and  took  the 
bottle. 

"  I  am  a  man  of  my  word,"  said  he,  "  and  had 
need  to  be  so,  or  I  would  not  touch  this  bottle 
with  my  foot.  Well,  I  shall  get  my  schooner 
and  a  dollar  or  two  for  my  pocket ;  and  then  I 
will  be  rid  of  this  devil  as  fast  as  I  can.  For  to 
tell  you  the  plain  truth,  the  look  of  him  has  cast 
me  down." 

"  Lopaka,"  said  Keawe,  "  do  not  you  think 
10 


146  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

any  worse  of  me  than  you  can  help  ;  I  know  it 
is  night,  and  the  roads  bad,  and  the  pass  by  the 
tombs  an  ill  place  to  go  by  so  late,  but  I  declare 
since  I  have  seen  that  little  face,  I  cannot  eat  or 
sleep  or  pray  till  it  is  gone  from  me.  I  Avill  give 
you  a  lantern,  and  a  basket  to  put  the  bottle  in, 
and  any  picture  or  fine  thing  in  all  my  house  ^ 
that  takes  your  fancy ;  and  be  gone  at  once,  and 
go  sleep  at  Hookena  with  Nahinu." 

" Keawe,"  said  Lopaka,  "many  a  man  would 
take  this  ill ;  above  all,  Avhen  I  am  doing  you  a 
turn  so  friendly,  as  to  keep  my  word  and  buy 
the  bottle ;  and  for  that  matter,  the  night  and 
the  dark,  and  the  way  by  the  tombs,  must  be  all 
tenfold  more  dangerous  to  a  man  with  such  a 
sin  upon  his  conscience,  and  such  a  bottle  under 
his  arm.  But  for  my  part,  I  am  so  extremely 
terrified  myself,  I  have  not  the  heart  to  blame 
you.  Here  I  go,  then ;  and  I  pray  God  you 
may  be  happy  in  your  house,  and  I  fortunate 
with  my  schooner,  and  both  get  to  heaven  in  the  ' 
end  in  spite  of  the  devil  and  his  bottle. 

So  Lopaka  went  doTvia  the  mountain ;  and 
Keawe  stood  in  his  front  balcony,  and  listened 
to  the  clink  of  the  horse's  shoes,  and  watched 
the  lantern  go  shining  down  the  path,  and  along 
the  cliff  of  caves  where  the  old  dead  are  buried ; 
and  all  the  time  he  trembled  and  clasped  his 


u 


•.^"  or  T 
DIVERSITY 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  147 

hands,  and  prayed  for  his  friend,  and  gave  glory 
to  God  that  he  himself  was  escaped  out  of  that 
trouble. 

But  the  next  day  came  very  brightly,  and 
that  new  house  of  his  was  so  delightful  to  be- 
hold that  he  forgot  his  terrors.  One  day  fol- 
lowed another,  and  K«awe  dwelt  there  in  per- 
petual joy.  He  had  his  place  on  the  back 
porch  ;  it  was  there  he  ate  and  lived,  and  read 
the  stories  in  the  Honolulu  newspapers;  but 
when  anyone  came  by  they  would  go  in  and 
view  the  chambers  and  the  pictures.  And  the 
fame  of  the  house  went  far  and  wide  ;  it  was 
called  Ka-Hale  Nui — the  Great  House — in  all 
Kona  ;  and  sometimes  the  Bright  House,  for 
Keawe  kept  a  Chinaman,  who  was  all  day  dust- 
ing and  furbishing  ;  and  the  glass,  and  the  gilt, 
and  the  fine  stuffs,  and  the  pictures,  shone  as 
bright  as  the  morning.  As  for  Keawe  himself, 
he  could  not  walk  in  the  chambers  without  sing- 
ing, his  heart  was  so  enlarged ;  and  when  ships 
sailed  by  upon  the  sea,  he  would  fly  his  colors 
on  the  mast. 

So  time  went  by,  until  one  day  Keawe  went 
upon  a  visit  as  far  as  Kailua  to  certain  of  his 
friends.  There  he  was  well  feasted  ;  and  left  as 
soon  as  he  could  the  next  morning,  and  rode 
hard,  for  he  was  impatient  to  behold  his  beauti- 


148  i'.S^  BOTTLE  IMP 

ful  house  ;  and,  besides,  the  night  then  coming 
on  was  the  night  in  which  the  dead  of  old  days 
go  abroad  in  the  sides  of  Kona ;  and  having 
already  meddled  with  the  devil,  he  was  the  more 
chary  of  meeting  with  the  dead.  A  little  be- 
yond Houaunau,  looking  far  ahead,  he  was 
aware  of  a  woman  bathing  in  the  edge  of  the 
sea ;  and  she  seemed  a  well-grown  girl,  but  he 
thought  no  more  of  it.  Then  he  saw  her  white 
shift  flutter  as  she  put  it  on,  and  then  her  red 
holoku  ;  and  by  the  time  he  came  abreast  of  her 
she  was  done  with  her  toilet,  and  had  come  up 
from  the  sea,  and  stood  by  the  track-side  in  her 
red  holoku,  and  she  was  all  freshened  with  the 
bath,  and  her  eyes  shone  and  were  kind.  Now 
Keawe  no  sooner  beheld  her  than  he  drew  rein. 

"  I  thought  I  knew  everyone  in  this  country," 
said  he.  "  How  comes  it  that  I  do  not  know 
you?" 

"  I  am  Kokua,  daughter  of  Kiano,"  said  the 
girl,   "  and   I  have  just   returned  from   Oahu. , 
Who  are  you  ?  " 

*'  I  will  tell  you  who  I  am  in  a  little,"  said 
Keawe,  dismounting  from  his  horse,  "  but  not 
now.  For  I  have  a  thought  in  my  mind,  and  if 
you  knew  who  I  was,  you  might  have  heard  of 
me,  and  would  not  give  me  a  true  answer.  But 
tell  me,  first  of  all,  one  thing  :  are  you  married  ?  "  -^ 


I    TUOUOUT    1    KNEW   EVEKYONE    IN    THIS    CUUNTKV, 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  149 

At  this  Kokua  laughed  out  loud.  "  It  is  you 
who  ask  questions,"  she  said.  "  Are  you  mar- 
ried yourself  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  Kokua,  I  am  not,"  replied  Keawe, 
"  and  never  thought  to  be  until  this  hour.  But 
here  is  the  plain  truth.  I  have  met  you  here  at 
the  road-side,  and  I  saw  your  eyes,  which  are  like 
the  stars,  and  my  heart  went  to  you  as  swift  as 
a  bird.  And  so  now,  if  you  want  none  of  me, 
say  so,  and  I  will  go  on  to  my  own  place ;  but  if 
you  think  me  no  worse  than  any  other  young 
man,  say  so,  too,  and  I  will  turn  aside  to  your 
father's  for  the  night,  and  to-morrow  I  will  talk 
with  the  good  man." 

Kokua  said  never  a  word,  but  she  looked  at 
the  sea  and  laughed. 

"  Kokua,"  said  Keawe,  "  if  you  say  nothing, 
I  will  take  that  for  the  good  answer ;  so  let  us 
be  stepping  to  your  father's  door." 

She  went  on  ahead  of  him,  still  without 
speech ;  only  sometimes  she  glanced  back  and 
glanced  away  again,  and  she  kept  the  strings  of 
her  hat  in  her  mouth. 

Now,  when  they  had  come  to  the  door,  Kiano 
came  out  on  his  veranda,  and  cried  out  and 
welcomed  Keawe  by  name.  At  that  the  girl 
looked  over,  for  the  fame  of  the  great  house  had 
come  to  her  ears ;  and,  to  be  sui'e,  it  was  a  great 


150  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

temptation.  All  that  evening  tliey  were  very 
meny  together ;  and  the  girl  was  as  bold  as  brass 
under  the  eyes  of  her  parents,  and  made  a  mark 
of  Keawe,  for  she  had  a  quick  wit.  The  next 
day  he  had  a  word  with  Kiano,  and  found  the 
girl  alone. 

"  Kokua,"  said  he,  "  you  made  a  mark  of  me 
all  the  evening  ;  and  it  is  still  time  to  bid  me  go. 
I  would  not  tell  you  who  I  was,  because  I  have 
so  fine  a  house,  and  I  feared  you  would  think 
too  much  of  that  house  and  too  little  of  the  man 
that  loves  you.  Now  you  know  all,  and  if  you 
wish  to  have  seen  the  last  of  me,  say  so  at  once." 

"  No,"  said  Kokua,  but  this  time  she  did  not 
laugh,  nor  did  Keawe  ask  for  more. 

This  was  the  wooing  of  Keawe  ;  things  had 
gone  quickly  ;  but  so  an  arrow  goes,  and  the  ball 
of  a  rifle  swifter  still,  and  yet  both  may  strike  the 
target.  Things  had  gone  fast,  but  they  had  gone 
far  also,  and  the  thought  of  Keawe  rang  in  the 
maiden's  head  ;  she  heard  his  voice  in  the  breach 
of  the  surf  upon  the  lava,  and  for  this  young  man 
that  she  had  seen  but  twice  she  would  have  left 
father  and  mother  and  her  native  islands.  As 
for  Keawe  himself,  his  horse  flew  up  the  path  of 
the  mountain  imder  the  cliff  of  tombs,  and  the 
sound  of  the  hoofs,  and  the  sound  of  Keawe 
singing  to  himself  for  pleasure,  echoed  in  the 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  151 

caverns  of  the  dead.  He  came  to  the  Bright 
House,  and  still  he  was  singing.  He  sat  and 
ate  in  the  broad  balcony,  and  the  Chinaman 
wondered  at  his  master,  to  hear  how  he  sang 
between  the  monthfuls.  The  sun  went  down 
into  the  sea,  and  the  night  came ;  and  Keawe 
walked  the  balconies  by  lamplight,  high  on  the 
mountains,  and  the  voice  of  his  singing  startled 
men  on  ships. 

"  Here  am  I  now  upon  my  high  place,"  he 
said  to  himself.  "  Life  may  be  no  better  ;  this 
is  the  mountain  top  ;  and  all  shelves  about  me 
toward  the  worse.  For  the  first  time  I  will  light 
up  the  chambers,  and  bathe  in  my  fine  bath  with 
the  hot  water  and  the  cold,  ?ad  sleep  above  in 
the  bed  of  my  bridal  chamber." 

So  the  Chinaman  had  word,  and  he  must 
rise  from  sleep  and  light  the  furnaces  ;  and  as 
he  walked  below,  beside  the  boilers,  he  heard 
his  master  singing  and  rejoicing  above  him  in 
the  lighted  chambers.  When  the  water  began  to 
be  hot  the  Chinaman  cried  to  his  master  :  and 
Keawe  went  into  the  bath-room  ;  and  the  China- 
man heard  him  sing  as  he  filled  the  marble  basin ; 
and  heard  him  sing,  and  the  singing  broken,  as 
he  undressed ;  until  of  a  sudden,  the  song  ceased. 
The  Chinaman  listened,  and  listened ;  he  called 
up  the  house  to  Keawe  to  ask  if  all  were  well, 


152  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

and  Keawe  answered  him  "  Yes,"  and  bade  liim 
go  to  bed  ;  but  there  was  no  more  singing  in  the 
Bright  House  ;  and  all  night  long  the  Chinaman 
heard  his  master's  feet  go  round  and  round  the 
balconies  without  repose. 

Now,  the  truth  of  it  was  this :  as  Keawe  un- 
dressed for  his  bath,  he  spied  upon  his  flesh  a 
patch  like  a  patch  of  lichen  on  a  rock,  and  it  was 
then  that  he  stopped  singing.  For  he  knew  the 
likeness  of  that  patch,  and  knew  that  he  was  fallen 
in  the  Chinese  Evil. 

Now,  it  is  a  sad  thing  for  any  man  to  fall  into 
X^  this  sickness.  And  it  would  be  a  sad  thing  for 
anyone  to  leave  a  house  so  beautiful  and  so  com- 
modious, and  depart  from  all  his  friends  to  the 
north  coast  of  Molokai,  between  the  mighty  cliff 
and  the  sea-breakers.  But  what  was  that  to  the 
case  of  the  man  Keawe,  he  who  had  met  his  love 
but  yesterday,  and  won  her  but  that  morning, 
and  now  saw  all  his  hoj)es  break,  in  a  moment, 
like  a  piece  of  glass  ? 

Awhile  he  sat  upon  the  edge  of  the  bath, 
then  sprang,  with  a  cry,  and  ran  outside ;  and 
to  and  fro,  to  and  fro,  along  the  balcony,  like 
one  despairing. 

"Yery  willingly  could  I  leave  Hawaii,  the 
home  of  my  fathers,"  Keawe  was  thinking. 
•'Very   lightly   could   I   leave    my   house,    the 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  153 

high-placed,  the  many-windowecl,  here  upon 
the  mountains.  Very  bravely  conld  I  go  to 
Molokai,  to  Kalaupapa  by  the  cliffs,  to  live 
with  the  smitten  and  to  sleep  there,  far  from 
my  fathers.  But  what  wrong  have  I  done, 
what  sin  lies  upon  my  soul,  that  I  should  have 
encountered  Kokua  coming  cool  from  the  sea- 
water  in  the  evening?  Kokua,  the  soul  en- 
snarer !  Kokua,  the  light  of  my  life  !  Her  may 
I  never  wed,  her  may  I  look  upon  no  longer, 
her  may  I  no  more  handle  with  my  loving  hand  ; 
and  it  is  for  this,  it  is  for  you,  O  Kokua !  that 
I  pour  my  lamentations  !  " 

Now  you  are  to  observe  what  sort  of  a  man 
Keawe  was,  for  he  might  have  dwelt  there  in 
the  Bright  House  for  years,  and  no  one  been  the 
wiser  of  his  sickness  ;  but  he  reckoned  nothing  of 
that,  if  he  must  lose  Kokua.  And  again  he  might 
have  wed  Kokua  even  as  he  was ;  and  so  many 
would  have  done,  because  they  have  the  souls  of 
pigs ;  but  Keawe  loved  the  maid  manfully,  and 
he  would  do  her  no  hurt  and  bring  her  in  no 
danger. 

A  little  beyond  the  midst  of  the  night,  there 
came  in  his  mind  the  recollection  of  that  bottle. 
He  went  round  to  the  back  porch,  and  called  to 
memory  the  day  when  the  devil  had  looked 
forth ;  and  at  the  thought  ice  ran  in  his  veins. 


154  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

*'A  dreadful  thing  is  the  bottle,"  thought 
Keawe,  "and  dreadful  is  the  imp,  and  it  is  a 
dreadful  thing  to  risk  the  flames  of  hell.  But 
what  other  hope  have  I  to  cure  my  sickness  or 
to  wed  Kokua  ?  What !  "  he  thought,  "  would  I 
beard  the  devil  once,  only  to  get  me  a  house, 
and  not  face  him  again  to  Avin  Kokua?  " 

Thereupon  he  called  to  mind  it  was  the  next 
day  the  Hall  went  by  on  her  return  to  Hono- 
lulu. "  There  must  I  go  first,"  he  thought, 
"  and  see  Lopaka.  For  the  best  hope  that  I 
have  now  is  to  find  that  same  bottle  I  was  so 
pleased  to  be  rid  of." 

Never  a  wink  could  he  sleep  ;  the  food  stuck 
in  his  throat ;  but  he  sent  a  letter  to  Kiano, 
and  about  the  time  when  the  steamer  would 
be  coming,  rode  down  beside  the  cliff  of  the 
tombs.  It  rained  ;  his  horse  went  heavily  ;  he 
looked  up  at  the  black  mouths  of  the  caves, 
and  he  envied  the  dead  that  slept  there  and 
were  done  with  trouble  ;  and  called  to  mind  how 
he  had  galloped  by  the  day  before,  and  was 
astonished.  So  he  came  down  to  Hookena,  and 
there  was  all  the  country  gathered  for  the 
steamer  as  usual.  In  the  shed  before  the  store 
they  sat  and  jested  and  passed  the  news  ;  but 
there  was  no  matter  of  speech  in  Keawe's  bos- 
om, and  he  sat  in  their  midst  and  looked  with- 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  156 

out  on  tlie  rain  falling  on  the  houses,  and  the 
surf  beating  among  the  rocks,  and  the  sighs 
arose  in  his  throat. 

"  Keawe  of  the  Bright  House  is  out  of  spir- 
its," said  one  to  another.  Indeed,  and  so  he  was, 
and  little  wonder. 

Then  the  Hall  came,  and  the  whaleboat  car- 
ried him  on  board.  The  after-part  of  the  ship 
was  full  of  Haoles — whites — who  had  been  to 
visit  the  volcano,  as  their  custom  is  ;  and  the 
midst  was  crowded  with  Kanakas,  and  the 
fore-part  with  wild  bulls  from  Hilo  and  horses 
from  Kau ;  but  Keawe  sat  apart  from  all  in 
his  sorrow,  and  watched  for  the  house  of  Ki- 
ano.  There  it  sat  low  upon  the  shore  in  the 
black  rocks,  and  shaded  by  the  coron  palms, 
and  there  by  the  door  was  a  red  holoku,  no 
greater  than  a  fly,  and  going  to  and  fro  with 
a  fly's  busyness,  "  Ah,  queen  of  my  heart," 
he  cried,  "  I'll  venture  my  dear  soul  to  win 
you ! " 

Soon  after  darkness  fell  and  the  cabins  were 
lit  up,  and  the  Haoles  sat  and  played  at  the 
cards  and  drank  whiskey  as  their  custom  is ;  but 
Keawe  walked  the  deck  all  night ;  and  all  the 
next  day,  as  they  steamed  under  the  lee  of  Maui 
or  of  Molokai,  he  was  still  pacing  to  and  fro  like 
a  wild  animal  in  a  menagerie. 


156  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

Toward  evening  they  passed  Diamond  Head, 
and  came  to  the  pier  of  Honohdu.  Keawe 
stepped  out  among  the  crowd  and  began  to  ask 
for  Lopaka.  It  seemed  he  had  become  the 
owner  of  a  schooner — none  better  in  the  islands 
— and  was  gone  npon  an  adventure  as  far  as 
Pola-Pola  or  Kahiki ;  so  there  was  no  help  to  be 
looked  for  from  Lo23aka.  Keaw^e  called  to  mind 
a  friend  of  his,  a  lawyer  in  the  town  (I  must  not 
tell  his  name),  and  inquired  of  him.  They  said 
he  was  grown  suddenly  rich,  and  had  a  fine  new 
house  upon  Waikiki  shore ;  and  this  put  a 
thought  in  Keawe's  head,  and  he  called  a  hack 
and  drove  to  the  lawyer's  house. 

The  house  w^as  all  brand  new,  and  the  trees  in 
the  garden  no  greater  than  walking-sticks,  and 
the  lawyer,  when  he  came,  had  the  air  of  a  man 
well  pleased. 

"What  can  I  do  to  serve  you  ?  "  said  the  law- 
yer. 

"You  are  a  friend  of  Lopaka's,"  replied 
Keawe,  "  and  Lopaka  purchased  from  me  a  cer- 
tain piece  of  goods  that  I  thought  you  might 
enable  me  to  trace." 

The  lawyer's  face  became  very  dark.  "  I  do 
not  profess  to  misunderstand  you,  Mr.  Keawe," 
said  he,  "  thougli  this  is  an  ugly  business  to  be 
stirring  in.     You  may  be  sure  I  know  nothing, 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  167 

but  yet  I  have  a  guess,  and  if  you  would  apply 
in  a  certain  quarter  I  think  you  might  have 
news." 

And  he  named  the  name  of  a  man,  which, 
again,  I  had  better  not  repeat.  So  it  was  for 
days,  and  Keawe  went  from  one  to  another, 
finding  everywhere  new  clothes  and  carriages, 
and  fine  new  houses  and  men  everywhere  in 
great  contentment,  although,  to  be  sure,  when 
he  hinted  at  his  business  their  faces  would  cloud 
over. 

"  No  doubt  I  am  upon  the  track,"  thought 
Keawe.  "  These  new  clothes  and  carriages 
are  all  the  gifts  of  the  little  imp,  and  these 
glad  faces  are  the  faces  of  men  who  have  taken 
their  profit  and  got  rid  of  the  accursed  thing 
in  safety.  When  I  see  pale  cheeks  and  hear 
sighing,  I  shall  know  that  I  am  near  the 
bottle."  V 

So  it  befell  at  last  that  he  was  recommended 
to  a  Haole  in  Beritania  Street.  When  he  came 
to  the  door,  about  the  hour  of  the  evening  meal, 
there  were  the  usual  marks  of  the  new  housr., 
and  the  young  garden,  and  the  electric  light 
shining  in  the  windows  ;  but  when  the  owner 
came,  a  shock  of  hope  and  fear  ran  through 
Keawe ;  for  here  was  a  young  man,  white  as  a 
corpse,  and  black  about  the  eyes,  the  hair  shed- 


> 


158  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

ding  from  his  head,  and  such  a  look  in  his  cotin- 
tenance  as  a  man  may  have  when  he  is  waiting 
for  the  gallows. 

''Here  it  is,  to  be  sure,"  thought  Keawe, 
and  so  with  this  man  he  noways  veiled  his 
errand.    "  I  am  come  to  buy  the  bottle,"  said  he. 

At  the  word,  the  young  Haole  of  Beritania 
Street  reeled  against  the  wall. 

"  The  bottle  !  "  he  gasped.    "  To  buy  the  bot-  r 
tie !  "     Then  he  seemed  to  choke,  and  seizing 
Keawe  by  the  arm,  carried  him  into  a  room  and 
poured  out  wine  in  two  glasses. 

"Here  is  my  respects,"  said  Keawe,  who 
had  been  much  about  with  Haoles  in  his  time. 
"Yes,"  he  added,  "I  am  come  to  buy  the  bottle. 
What  is  the  price  by  now  ?  " 

At  that  word  the  young  man  let  his  glass  slip 
through  his  fingers,  and  looked  upon  Keawe  like 
a  ghost. 

"  The  price,"  says  he  ;  "  the  price  !  You  do 
not  know  the  price  ?  "  ^ 

"It  is  for  that  I  am  asking  you,"  returned 
Keawe.  "  But  why  are  you  so  much  con- 
cerned? Is  there  anything  wrong  about  the 
price  ?  " 

"  It  has  dropped  a  great  deal  in  value  since 
your  time,  Mr.  Keawe,"  said  the  young  man, 
stammering. 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  159 

"  "Well,  well,  I  shall  have  the  less  to  pay  for 
it,"    says   Keawe.      "  How   much    did    it    cost 

you?" 

The  young  man  was  as  white  as  a  sheet. 
"  Two  cents,"  said  he.  v 

"What?"  cried  Keawe,  "two  cents?  Wliy, 
then,  you  can  only  sell  it  for  one.     And  he  who 

buys  it "      The  words  died  upon  Keawe's 

tongue;  he  who  bought  it  could  never  sell  it 
again,  the  bottle  and  the  bottle  imp  must  abide 
with  him  until  he  died,  and  when  he  died  must 
caiTy  him  to  the  red  end  of  hell. 

The  young  man  of  Beritania  Street  fell  upon 
his  knees.  "  For  God's  sake,  buy  it ! "  he  cried. 
"  You  can  have  all  my  fortune  in  the  bargain. 
I  was  mad  when  I  bought  it  at  that  price.  I 
had  embezzled  money  at  my  store ;  I  was  lost 
else  ;  I  must  have  gone  to  jail." 

"  Poor  creature,"  said  Keawe,  "  you  would 
risk  your  soul  upon  so  desperate  an  adventure, 
and  to  avoid  the  proper  punishment  of  yoiu*  own 
disgrace ;  and  you  think  I  could  hesitate  with 
love  in  front  of  me.  Give  me  the  bottle,  and  the 
change  which  I  make  sure  you  have  all  ready. 
Here  is  a  five-cent  piece." 

It  Avas  as  Keawe  supposed  ;  the  young  man 
had  the  change  ready  in  a  drawer ;  the  bottle 
changed   hands,  and  Keawe's   fingers   were   no 


160  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

sooner  clasped  upon  the  stalk  than  he  had 
breathed  his  wish  to  be  a  clean  man.  And,  sure 
enough,  when  he  got  home  to  his  room,  and 
stripped  himself  before  a  glass,  his  flesh  was 
whole  like  an  infant's.  And  here  was  the 
strange  thing :  he  had  no  sooner  seen  this 
miracle  than  his  mind  was  changed  within  him, 
and  he  cared  naught  for  the  Chinese  Evil,  and 
little  enough  for  Kokua ;  and  had  but  the  one 
thought,  that  here  he  was  bound  to  the  bottle 
imp  for  time  and  for  eternity,  and  had  no  bet- 
ter hope  but  to  be  a  cinder  forever  in  the  flames 
of  hell.  Away  ahead  of  him  he  saw  them  blaze 
with  his  mind's  eye,  and  his  soul  shrank,  and 
darkness  fell  upon  the  light.      » 

When  Keawe  came  to  himself  a  little,  he  was 
aware  it  was  the  night  when  the  band  j^layed  at 
the  hotel.  Thither  he  went,  because  he  feared 
to  be  alone ;  and  there,  among  happy  faces, 
walked  to  and  fro,  and  heard  the  tunes  go  up 
and  down,  and  saw  Berger  beat  the  measure, 
and  all  the  while  he  heard  the  flames  crackle, 
and  saw  the  red  fire  burning  in  the  bottomless 
pit.  Of  a  sudden  the  band  played  Hiki-ao-ao  ; 
that  was  a  song  that  he  had  sung  with  Kokua, 
and  at  the  strain  courage  returned  to  him. 

"  It  is  done  now,"  he  thouglit,  "  and  once 
more  let  me  take  the  good  along  with  the  evil."  \ 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  161 

So  it  befell  that  lie  returned  to  Hawaii  by  the 
first  steamer,  and  as  soon  as  it  could  be  man- 
aged he  was  wedded  to  Kokua,  and  carried  her 
up  the  mountain  side  to  the  Bright  House. 

Now  it  was  so  with  these  two,  that  when  they 
were  together  Keawe's  heart  was  stilled ;  but 
so  soon  as  he  was  alone  he  fell  into  a  brooding 
horror,  and  heard  the  flames  crackle,  and  saw 
the  red  fire  burn  in  the  bottomless  pit.  The 
girl,  indeed,  had  come  to  him  wholly ;  her  heart 
leaped  in  her  side  at  sight  of  him,  her  hand  clung 
to  his  ;  and  she  was  so  fashioned,  from  the  hair 
upon  her  head  to  the  nails  upon  her  toes,  that 
none  could  see  her  without  joy.  She  was  pleas- 
ant in  her  nature.  She  had  the  good  word  al- 
ways. Full  of  song  she  was,  and  went  to  and 
fro  in  the  Bright  House,  the  brightest  thing  in 
its  three  stories,  carolling  like  the  birds.  And 
Keawe  beheld  and  heard  her  with  delight,  and 
then  must  shrink  upon  one  side,  and  weep  and 
groan  to  think  upon  the  price  that  he  had  paid 
for  her;  and  then  he  must  dry  his  eyes,  and 
wash  his  face,  and  go  and  sit  with  her  on  the 
broad  balconies,  joining  in  her  songs,  and,  with 
a  sick  spirit,  answering  her  smiles. 

There  came  a  day  when  her  feet  began  to  be 
heavy  and  her  songs  more  rare  ;  and  now  it  was 
not  Keawe  only  that  would  weep  apart,  but  each 
11 


162  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

would  sunder  from  the  other  and  sit  in  opposite 
balconies  with  the  whole  width  of  the  Bright 
House  betwixt.  Keawe  was  so  sunk  in  his  de- 
spair, he  scarce  observed  the  change,  and  was 
only  glad  he  had  more  hours  to  sit  alone  and 
brood  upon  his  destiny,  and  was  not  so  fre- 
quently condemned  to  pull  a  smiling  face  on  a 
sick  heart.  But  one  day,  coming  softly  through 
the  house,  he  heard  the  sound  of  a  child  sobbing, 
and  there  was  Kokua  rolling  her  face  upon  the 
balcony  floor,  and  weeping  like  the  lost. 

"  You  do  well  to  weep  in  this  house,  Kokua," 
he  said.  "  And  yet  I  would  give  the  head  off 
my  body  that  you  (at  least)  might  have  been 
happy."  / 

"  Happy !  "  she  cried.  "  Keawe,  when  you 
lived  alone  in  your  Bright  House  you  were  the 
word  of  the  island  for  a  happy  man ;  laughter 
and  song  were  in  your  mouth,  and  3^our  face  was 
as  bright  as  the  sunrise.  Then  you  wedded 
poor  Kokua  ;  and  the  good  God  knows  what  is 
amiss  in  her — but  from  that  day  you  have  not 
smiled.  Oh  !  "  she  cried,  "  what  ails  me  ?  I 
thought  I  was  pretty,  and  I  knew  I  loved  him. 
"What  ails  me,  that  I  throw  this  cloud  upon  my 
husband  ?  " 

"  Poor  Kokua,"  said  Keawe.  He  sat  down  by 
her  side,  and  sought  to  take  her  hand  ;  but  that 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  163 

she  plucked  away.  "Poor  Kokua,"  he  said, 
again.  "  My  poor  child — my  pretty.  And  I  had 
thought  all  this  while  to  spare  you  !  Well,  you 
shall  know  all.  Then,  at  least,  you  Avill  pity 
poor  Keawe  ;  then  you  will  understand  how 
much  he  loved  you  in  the  past — that  he  dared 
hell  for  your  possession — and  how  much  he  loves 
you  still  (the  poor  condemned  one),  that  he  can 
yet  call  up  a  smile  when  he  beholds  you." 

With  that,  he  told  her  all,  even  from  the  be- 
ginning. 

"  You  have  done  this  for  me  ? "  she  cried. 
"  Ah,  well,  then  what  do  I  care ! "  and  she 
clasped  and  wept  upon  him.  - 

"  Ah,  child  !  "  said  Keawe,  "  and  yet,  when  I 
consider  of  the  fire  of  hell,  I  care  a  good  deal ! " 

"  Never  tell  me,"  said  she,  "  no  man  can  be 
lost  because  he  loved  Kokua,  and  no  other  fault. 
I  tell  you,  Keawe,  I  shall  save  you  with  these 
hands,  or  perish  in  your  company.  Wliat !  you 
loved  me  and  gave  your  soul,  and  you  think  I 
will  not  die  to  save  you  in  return  ?  " 

"Ah,  my  dear,  you  might  die  a  hundred 
times,  and  what  difference  would  that  make  ?  " 
he  cried,  "  except  to  leave  me  lonely  till  the 
time  comes  of  my  damnation  ?  " 

"  You  know  nothing,"  said  she.  "  I  was  edu- 
cated in  a  school  in  Honolulu  ;  I  am  no  common 


164  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

girl.  And  I  tell  you  I  shall  save  my  loYer. 
What  is  this  you  say  about  a  cent  ?  But  all  the 
world  is  not  American.  In  England  they  have 
a  piece  they  call  a  farthing,  which  is  about  half  a 
cent.  Ah  !  sorrow  1 "  she  cried,  "  that  makes  it 
scarcely  better,  for  the  buyer  must  be  lost,  and 
we  shall  find  none  so  brave  as  my  Keawe  !  But, 
then,  there  is  France  ;  they  have  a  small  coin 
there  which  they  call  a  centime,  and  these  go 
five  to  the  cent  or  thereabout.  We  could  not 
do  better.  Come,  Keawe,  let  us  go  to  the  French 
islands  ;  let  us  go  to  Tahiti,  as  fast  as  ships  can 
bear  us.  There  we  have  four  centimes,  three 
centimes,  two  centimes,  one  centime  ;  four  pos- 
sible sales  to  come  and  go  on  ;  and  two  of  us  to 
push  the  bargain.  Come,  my  Keawe  !  kiss  me, 
and  banish  care.     Kokua  will  defend  you."- 

"  Gift  of  God !  "  he  cried.  "  I  cannot  think 
that  God  will  punish  me  for  desiring  aught  so 
good  !  Be  it  as  you  will,  then,  take  me  where 
you  please :  I  put  my  life  and  my  salvation  in 
your  hands." 

Early  the  next  day  Kokua  was  about  her  prep- 
arations. She  took  Keawe's  chest  that  he  went 
with  sailoring  ;  and  first  she  put  the  bottle  in  a 
corner,  and  then  packed  it  with  the  richest  of 
their  clothes  and  the  bravest  of  the  knick-knacks 
in  the  house.     "  For,"  said  she,  "  we  must  seem 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  165 

to  be  rich  folks,  or  wlio  will  believe  in  the  bot- 
tle ?  "  All  the  time  of  her  preparation  she  was 
as  gay  as  a  bird ;  only  when  she  looked  upon 
Keawe  the  tears  would  spring  in  her  eye,  and  she 
must  run  and  kiss  him.  As  for  Keawe,  a  weight 
was  off  his  soul ;  now  that  he  had  his  secret 
shared,  and  some  hope  in  front  of  him,  he 
seemed  like  a  new  man,  his  feet  went  lightly  on 
the  earth,  and  his  breath  was  good  to  him  again. 
Yet  was  terror  still  at  his  elbow ;  and  ever  and 
again,  as  the  wind  blows  out  a  taper,  hope  died 
in  him,  and  he  saw  the  flames  toss  and  the  red 
fire  burn  in  hell. 

It  was  given  out  in  the  country  they  were 
gone  pleasuring  to  the  States,  which  was  thought 
a  strange  thing,  and  yet  not  so  strange  as  the 
truth,  if  any  could  have  guessed  it.  So  they 
went  to  Honolulu  in  the  Hall,  and  thence  in  the 
"Umatilla  to  San  Francisco  with  a  crowd  of 
Haoles,  and  at  San  Francisco  took  their  passage 
by  the  mail  brigantine,  the  Tropic  Bird,  for 
Papeete,  the  chief  place  of  the  French  in  the 
south  islands.  Thither  they  came,  after  a  pleas- 
ant voyage,  on  a  fair  day  of  the  Trade  wind, 
and  saw  the  reef  with  the  surf  breaking  and 
Motuiti  with  its  palms,  and  the  schooner  riding 
within -side,  and  the  white  houses  of  the  town 
low  down  along  the  shore  among  green  trees, 


166  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

and  overliead  the  mountains  and  the  clouds  of 
Tahiti,  the  wise  island. 

It  was  judged  the  most  wise  to  hire  a  house, 
which  they  did  accordingly,  opposite  the  Brit- 
ish Consul's,  to  make  a  gTeat  parade  of  money, 
and  themselves  conspicuous  with  carriages  and 
horses.  This  it  was  very  easy  to  do,  so  long 
as  they  had  the  bottle  in  their  possession ;  for 
Kokua  Avas  more  bold  than  Keawe,  and,  when- 
ever she  had  a  mind,  called  on  the  imp  for 
twenty  or  a  hundred  dollars.  At  this  rate  they 
soon  grew  to  be  remarked  in  the  town  ;  and  the 
strangers  from  Hawaii,  their  riding  and  their 
driving,  the  fine  holokus,  and  the  rich  lace  of 
Kokua,  became  the  matter  of  much  talk. 

They  got  on  well  after  the  first  with  the 
Tahitian  language,  which  is  indeed  like  to  the 
Hawaiian,  with  a  change  of  certain  letters ; 
and  as  soon  as  they  had  any  freedom  of  speech, 
began  to  push  the  bottle.  You  are  to  consider  it 
was  not  an  easy  subject  to  introduce  ;  it  was  not 
easy  to  persuade  people  you  were  in  earnest, 
when  you  offered  to  sell  them  for  four  centimes 
the  spring  of  health  and  riches  inexhaustible. 
It  was  necessary  besides  to  explain  the  dangers 
of  the  bottle  ;  and  either  people  disbelieved  the 
whole  thing  and  laughed,  or  they  thought  the 
more  of  the  darker  part,  became  overcast  with 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  167 

gravity,  and  drew  away  from  Keawe  and  Kokua, 
as  from  persons  who  had  dealings  with  the  devil. 
So  far  from  gaining  ground,  these  two  began  to 
find  they  were  avoided  in  the  town  ;  the  childi'en 
ran  away  from  them  screaming,  a  thing  intoler- 
able to  Kokua  ;  Catholics  crossed  themselves  as 
they  went  by ;  and  all  persons  began  with  one 
accord  to  disengage  themselves  from  their  ad- 
vances. 

Depression  fell  upon  their  sj^irits.  They  would 
sit  at  night  in  their  new  house,  after  a  day's 
weariness,  and  not  exchange  one  word,  or  the 
silence  would  be  broken  by  Kokua  bursting  sud- 
denly into  sobs.  Sometimes  they  would  pray 
together ;  sometimes  they  would  have  the  bottle 
out  upon  the  floor,  and  sit  all  evening  watching 
how  the  shadow  hovered  in  the  midst.  At  such 
times  they  would  be  afraid  to  go  to  rest.  It  was 
long  ere  slumber  came  to  them,  and,  if  either 
dozed  off,  it  would  be  to  wake  and  find  the  other 
silently  weeping  in  the  dark,  or,  perhaps,  to  wake 
alone,  the  other  having  fled  from  the  house  and 
the  neighborhood  of  that  bottle,  to  pace  under 
the  bananas  in  the  little  garden,  or  to  wander  on 
the  beach  by  moonlight. 

One  night  it  was  so  when  Kokua  awoke. 
Keawe  was  gone.  She  felt  in  the  bed  and  his 
place  was  cold.     Then  fear  fell  upon  her,  and 


168  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

she  sat  up  in  bed.  A  little  moonshine  filtered 
through  the  shutters.  The  room  was  bright,  and 
she  could  spy  the  bottle  on  the  floor.  Outside 
it  blew  high,  the  great  trees  of  the  avenue  cried 
aloud,  and  the  fallen  leaves  rattled  in  the  ve- 
randa. In  the  midst  of  this  Kokua  Avas  aware 
of  another  sound ;  whether  of  a  beast  or  of  a 
man  she  could  scarce  tell,  but  it  was  as  sad  as 
death,  and  cut  her  to  the  soul.  Softly  she  arose, 
set  the  door  ajar,  and  looked  forth  into  the 
moonlit  yard.  There,  under  the  bananas,  lay 
Keawe,  his  mouth  in  the  dust,  and  as  he  lay  he 
moaned. 

It  was  Kokua's  first  thought  to  run  forward 
and  console  him ;  her  second  jDotently  withheld 
her.  Keawe  had  borne  himself  before  his  wife 
like  a  brave  man ;  it  became  her  little  in  the 
hour  of  weakness  to  intrude  upon  his  shame. 
With  the  thought  she  drew  back  into  the  house. 

"  Heaven,"  she  thought,  "  how  careless  have  I 
been — how  weak !  It  is  he,  not  I,  that  stands  in 
this  eternal  peril ;  it  was  he,  not  I,  that  took  the 
curse  upon  his  soul.  It  is  for  my  sake,  and  for 
the  love  of  a  creature  of  so  little  worth  and  such 
poor  help,  that  he  now  beholds  so  close  to  him 
the  flames  of  hell — ay,  and  smells  the  smoke  of 
it,  lying  without  there  in  the  wind  and  moon- 
light.    Am  I  so  dull  of  spirit  that  never  till  now 


THERE,    UNDEK    THE    DANANAS,    EAY    KEAWE,    IIIS    MOUTH    IN    THE   BUST,    AND 
AS   HE    LAY   HE   MOANED. 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  169 

I  have  surmised  my  duty,  or  have  I  seen  it  be- 
fore and  turned  aside  ?  But  now,  at  least,  I  take 
up  my  soul  in  both  the  hands  of  my  affection ; 
now  I  say  farewell  to  the  white  steps  of  heaven 
and  the  waiting  faces  of  my  friends.  A  love  for 
a  love,  and  let  mine  be  equalled  with  Keawe's ! 
A  soul  for  a  soul,  and  be  it  mine  to  perish  !  " 

She  was  a  deft  woman  with  her  hands,  and 
was  soon  apparelled.  She  took  in  her  hands  the 
change — the  precious  centimes  they  kept  ever 
at  their  side ;  for  this  coin  is  little  used,  and 
they  had  made  provision  at  a  government  office. 
When  she  was  forth  in  the  avenue  clouds  came 
on  the  wind,  and  the  moon  was  blackened.  The 
town  slept,  and  she  knew  not  whither  to  turn 
till  she  heard  one  coughing  in  the  shadow  of 
the  trees. 

"  Old  man,"  said  Kokua,  *'  what  do  you  here 
abroad  in  the  cold  night?  " 

The  old  man  could  scarce  express  himself  for 
coughing,  but  she  made  out  that  he  was  old  and 
poor,  and  a  stranger  in  the  island. 

"  Will  you  do  me  a  service  ?  "  said  Kokua. 
"  As  one  stranger  to  another,  and  as  an  old  man 
to  a  young  woman,  will  you  helj)  a  daughter  of 
Hawaii?  " 

"  Ah,"  said  the  old  man.  "  So  you  are  the 
witch  from  the  eight  islands,  and  even  my  old 


170  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

soul  yon  seek  to  entangle.     But  I  have  heard  of 
you,  and  defy  your  wickedness." 

"  Sit  down  here,"  saidKokua,  "  and  let  me  tell 
you  a  tale."  And  she  told  him  the  story  of 
Keawe  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 

"  And  now,"  said  she,"  I  am  his  wife,  whom  he 
bought  with  his  soul's  welfare.  And  what  should 
I  do  ?  If  I  went  to  him  myself  and  offered  to 
buy  it,  he  will  refuse.  But  if  you  go,  he  will 
sell  it  eagerly  ;  I  will  await  you  here ;  you  will 
buy  it  for  four  centimes,  and  I  will  buy  it  again 
for  three.  And  the  Lord  strengthen  a  poor 
girl!" 

"  If  you  meant  falsely,"  said  the  old  man,  "  I 
think  God  would  strike  you  dead." 

"  He  would !  "  cried  Kokua.  "  Be  sure  he 
would.  I  could  not  be  so  treacherous,  God 
would  not  suffer  it."' 

"  Give  me  the  four  centimes  and  await  me 
here,''  said  the  old  man. 

Now,  when  Kokua  stood  alone  in  the  street, 
her  spirit  died.  The  wind  roared  in  the  trees, 
and  it  seemed  to  her  the  rushing  of  the  flames 
of  hell ;  the  shadows  towered  in  the  light  of  the 
street  lamp,  and  they  seemed  to  her  the  snatch- 
ing hands  of  evil  ones.  If  she  had  had  the 
strength,  she  must  have  run  away,  and  if  she 
had  had  the  breath  she  must    have    screamed 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  171 

aloud ;  but,  in  truth,  she  could  do  neither,  and 
stood  and  trembled  in  the  avenue,  like  an  af- 
frighted child. 

Then  she  saw  the  old  man  returning,  and  he 
had  the  bottle  in  his  hand. 

"  I  have  done  your  bidding,"  said  he,  "  I  left 
your  husband  weeping  like  a  child  ;  to-night 
he  will  sleep  easy."  And  he  held  the  bottle 
forth. 

"  Before  you  give  it  me,"  Kokua  panted, 
"  take  the  good  with  the  evil — ask  to  be  deliv- 
ered from  your  cough." 

"  I  am  an  old  man,"  replied  the  other,  "  and 
too  near  the  gate  of  the  grave  to  take  a  favor 
from  the  devil.  But  what  is  this  ?  Why  do 
you  not  take  the  bottle  ?     Do  you  hesitate  ?  " 

"  Not  hesitate  ! "  cried  Kokua.  "  I  am  only 
weak.  Give  me  a  moment.  It  is  my  hand  re- 
sists, my  flesh  shrinks  back  from  the  accursed 
thing.     One  moment  only  !  " 

The  old  man  looked  upon  Kokua  kindly. 
"  Poor  child  !  "  said  he,  "  you  fear  :  your  soul 
misgives  you.  Well,  let  me  keep  it.  I  am  old, 
and  can  never  more  be  happy  in  this  world,  and 
as  for  the  next " 

"  Give  it  me  !  "  gasped  Kokua.  *'  There  is  your 
money.  Do  you  think  I  am  so  base  as  that  ? 
Give  me  the  bottle." 


172  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

"  God  bless  you  child,"  said  the  old  man. 

Kokua  concealed  the  bottle  under  her  holoku, 
said  farewell  to  the  old  man,  and  walked  off 
along  the  avenue,  she  cared  not  whither.  For 
all  roads  were  now  the  same  to  her,  and  led 
equally  to  hell.  Sometimes  she  walked,  and 
sometimes  ran  ;  sometimes  she  screamed  out  loud 
in  the  night,  and  sometimes  lay  by  the  wayside 
in  the  dust  and  wept.  All  that  she  had  heard 
of  hell  came  back  to  her ;  she  saw  the  flames 
blaze,  and  she  smelled  the  smoke,  and  her  flesh 
withered  on  the  coals. 

Near  day  she  came  to  her  mind  again,  and 
returned  to  the  house.  It  was  even  as  the  old 
man  said — Keawe  slumbered  like  a  child.  Ko- 
kua stood  and  gazed  upon  his  face. 

"  Now,  my  husband,"  said  she,  ^'  it  is  your  turn 
to  sleep.  When  you  wake  it  will  be  your  turn 
to  sing  and  laugh.  But  for  poor  Kokua,  alas  ! 
that  meant  no  evil — for  poor  Kokua  no  more 
sleep,  no  more  singing,  no  more  delight,  whether 
in  earth  or  Heaven." 

With  that  she  lay  down  in  the  bed  by  his  side, 
and  her  misery  was  so  extreme  that  she  fell  in  a 
deep  slumber  instantly. 

Late  in  the  morning  her  husband  w^oke  her 
and  gave  her  the  good  news.  It  seemed  he  was 
silly  with  delight,  for  he  paid  no  heed  to  her 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  173 

distress,  ill  tliougli  she  dissembled  it.  The 
words  stuck  in  her  mouth,  it  mattered  not  ; 
Keawe  did  the  speaking.  She  ate  not  a  bite, 
but  who  was  to  observe  it  ?  For  Keawe  cleared 
the  dish.  Kokua  saw  and  heard  him,  like  some 
strange  thing  in  a  dream  ;  there  were  times 
when  she  forgot  or  doubted,  and  put  her  hands 
to  her  brow ;  to  know  herself  doomed  and  hear 
her  husband  babble,  seemed  so  monstrous. 

All  the  while  Keawe  was  eating  and  talking, 
and  planning  the  time  of  their  return,  and 
thanking  her  for  saving  him,  and  fondling  her, 
and  calling  her  the  true  helper  after  all.  He 
laughed  at  the  old  man  that  was  fool  enough  to 
buy  that  bottle. 

"  A  worthy  old  man  he  seemed,"  Keawe  said. 
*'But  no  one  can  judge  by  appearances.  For 
why  did  the  old  reprobate  require  the  bottle  ?  " 

"My  husband,"  said  Kokua,  humbly,  "his 
purpose  may  have  been  good." 

Keawe  laughed  like  an  angry  man. 

"  Fiddle-de-dee  !  "  cried  Keawe.  "  An  old 
rogue,  I  tell  you  ;  and  an  old  ass  to  boot.  For 
the  bottle  was  hard  enough  to  sell  at  four  cen- 
times ;  and  at  three  it  will  be  quite  impossible. 
The  margin  is  not  broad  enough,  the  thing  be- 
gins to  smell  of  scorching — brrr ! "  said  he, 
and  shuddered.     "  It  is  true  I  bought  it  myself 


174  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

at  a  cent,  wlien  I  knew  not  there  were  smaller 
coins.  I  was  a  fool  for  my  pains  ;  there  will 
never  be  fomicl  another,  and  whoever  has  that 
bottle  now  will  carry  it  to  the  pit." 

'•  O  m}^  husband  !  "  said  Kokiia.  "  Is  it  not 
a  terrible  thing  to  save  oneself  by  the  eternal 
ruin  of  another  ?  It  seems  to  me  I  could  not 
laugh.  I  would  be  humbled.  I  would  be  filled 
with  melancholy.  I  would  pray  for  the  poor 
holder." 

Then  Keawe,  because  he  felt  the  truth  of 
what  she  said,  grew  the  more  angry.  "  Heigh ty- 
teighty !  "  cried  he.  "  You  may  be  filled  with 
melancholy  if  you  please.  It  is  not  the  mind  of 
a  good  wife.  If  you  thought  at  all  of  me,  you 
would  sit  shamed." 

Thereupon  he  went  out,  and  Kokua  was  alone. 

What  chance  had  she  to  sell  that  bottle  at 
two  centimes?  None,  she  perceived.  And  if 
she  had  any,  here  was  her  husband  hurrying  her 
away  to  a  country  where  there  was  nothing 
lower  than  a  cent.  And  here — on  the  morrow 
of  her  sacrifice — was  her  husband  leaving  her 
and  blaming  her. 

She  would  not  even  try  to  profit  by  what 
time  she  had,  but  sat  in  the  house,  and  now  had 
the  bottle  out  and  viewed  it  with  unutterable 
fear,  and  now,  with  loathing,  hid  it  out  of  sight. 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  175 

By  and  by,  Keawe  came  back,  and  would 
have  her  take  a  drive. 

"  My  husband,  I  am  ill,"  she  said.  "  I  am 
out  of  heart.  Excuse  me,  I  can  take  no  pleas- 
ure." 

Then  was  Keawe  more  wroth  than  ever. 
"With  her,  because  he  thought  she  was  brooding 
over  the  case  of  the  old  man  ;  and  with  himself, 
because  he  thought  she  was  right,  and  was 
ashamed  to  be  so  happy. 

"  This  is  your  truth,"  cried  he,  "  and  this 
your  affection  !  Your  husband  is  just  saved 
from  eternal  ruin,  which  he  encountered  for  the 
love  of  you — and  you  can  take  no  pleasure ! 
Kokua,  you  have  a  disloyal  heart." 

He  went  forth  again  furious,  and  wandered 
in  the  town  all  day.  He  met  friends,  and  drank 
with  them ;  they  hired  a  carriage  and  drove 
into  the  country,  and  there  drank  again.  All 
the  time  Keawe  was  ill  at  ease,  because  he  was 
taking  this  pastime  while  his  wife  was  sad,  and 
because  he  knew  in  his  heart  that  she  was  more 
right  than  he ;  and  the  knowledge  made  him 
drink  the  deeper. 

Now,  there  was  an  old  brutal  Haole  drinking 
with  him,  one  that  had  been  a  boatswain  of  a 
whaler — a  runaway,  a  digger  in  gold  mines,  a 
convict  in  prisons.     He  had  a  low  mind  and  a 


176  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

foul  mouth ;  lie  loved  to  drink  and  to  see 
others  drunken  ;  and  he  pressed  the  glass  upon 
Keawe.  Soon  there  was  no  more  money  in  the 
company. 

"  Here,  you  !  "  says  the  boatswain,  "  you  are 
rich,  you  have  been  always  saying.  You  have  a 
bottle  or  some  foolishness." 

"Yes,"  says  Keawe,  "I  am  rich;  I  will  go 
back  and  get  some  money  from  my  wife,  who 
keeps  it." 

"  That's  a  bad  idea,  mate,"  said  the  boatswain. 
"  Never  you  trust  a  petticoat  with  dollars. 
They're  all  as  false  as  water ;  you  keej)  an  eye 
on  her." 

Now,  this  word  struck  in  Keawe's  mind ;  for 
he  was  muddled  with  what  he  had  been  drink- 
ing. 

"  I  should  not  wonder  but  she  was  false,  in- 
deed," thought  he.  "  Why  else  should  she  be 
so  cast  down  at  my  release  ?  But  I  will  show 
her  I  am  not  the  man  to  be  fooled.  I  will  catch 
her  in  the  act." 

•  Accordingly,  when  they  were  back  in  town, 
Keawe  bade  the  boatswain  wait  for  him  at  the 
corner,  by  the  old  calaboose,  and  went  forward 
up  the  avenue  alone  to  the  door  of  his  house. 
The  night  had  come  again ;  there  was  a  light 
within,  but  never  a  sound ;  and  Keawe  crept 


THERE  WAS   KOKUA   ON   THE   FLOOR,    THE   LAMP  AT   HER   SIDE  ;     BEFORE 
HER    WAS    A    MILK-WHITE    BOTTLE,    WITH    A    ROUND    BELLY    AND    A 


LONG  NECK. 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  177 

about  the  corner,  opened  the  back  door  softly, 
and  looked  in. 

There  was  Kokua  on  the  floor,  the  lamp  at 
her  side;  before  her  was  a  milk-white  bottle, 
with  a  round  belly  and  a  long  neck  ;  and  as  she 
viewed  it,  Kokua  wrung  her  hands. 

A  long  time  Keawe  stood  and  looked  in  the 
doorway.  At  first  he  was  struck  stupid ;  and 
then  fear  fell  upon  him  that  the  bargain  had 
been  made  amiss,  and  the  bottle  had  come  back 
to  him  as  it  came  at  San  Francisco ;  and  at  that 
his  knees  were  loosened,  and  the  fumes  of  the 
wine  departed  from  his  head  like  mists  off  a 
river  in  the  morning.  And  then  he  had  another 
thought ;  and  it  was  a  strange  one,  that  made 
his  cheeks  to  burn. 

"  I  must  make  sure  of  this,"  thought  he. 

So  he  closed  the  door,  and  went  softly  round 
the  corner  again,  and  then  came  noisily  in,  as 
though  he  were  but  now  returned.  And,  lo  !  by 
the  time  he  opened  the  front  door  no  bottle  was 
to  be  seen;  and  Kokua  sat  in  a  chair  and 
started  up  like  one  awakened  out  of  sleep. 

"  I  have  been  drinking  all  day  and  making 
merry,"  said  Keawe.  "  I  have  been  with  good 
companions,  and  now  I  only  come  back  for 
money,  and  return  to  drink  and  carouse  with 
them  again." 
12 


178  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

Both  his  face  and  voice  were  as  stern  as  judg- 
ment, but  Kokua  was  too  troubled  to  observe. 

"  You  do  well  to  use  your  own,  my  husband," 
said  she,  and  her  words  trembled. 

"  Oh,  I  do  well  in  all  things,"  said  Keawe, 
and  he  went  straight  to  the  chest  and  took  out 
money.  But  he  looked  besides  in  the  corner 
where  they  kept  the  bottle,  and  there  was  no 
bottle  there. 

At  that  the  chest  heaved  upon  the  floor  like 
a  sea-billow,  and  the  house  span  about  him  like 
a  wreath  of  smoke,  for  he  saw  she  was  lost  now, 
and  there  was  no  escape.  "  It  is  what  I  feared," 
he  thought.     "  It  is  she  who  has  bought  it." 

And  then  he  came  to  himself  a  little  and  rose 
up ;  but  the  sweat  streamed  on  his  face  as  thick 
as  the  rain  and  as  cold  as  the  well-water. 

"  Kokua,"  said  he,  "  I  said  to  you  to-day  what 
ill  became  me.  Now  I  return  to  house  with  my 
jolly  companions,"  and  at  that  he  laughed  a  lit- 
tle quietly.  "  I  will  take  more  pleasure  in  the 
cup  if  you  forgive  me." 

She  clasped  his  knees  in  a  moment ;  she 
kissed  his  knees  with  flowing  tears. 

"  Oh,"  she  cried,  "  I  asked  but  a  kind  word !  " 

"  Let  us  never  one  think  hardly  of  the  other," 
said  Keawe,  and  was  gone  out  of  the  house. 

Now,  the  money  that  Keawe  had  taken  w^s 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  179 

only  some  of  that  store  of  centime  pieces  they 
had  laid  in  at  their  arrival.  It  was  very  sure 
he  had  no  mind  to  be  drinking.  His  wife  had 
given  her  soul  for  him,  noAV  he  must  give  his  for 
hers ;  no  other  thought  was  in  the  world  with 
him. 

At  the  corner,  by  the  old  calaboose,  there  was 
the  boatswain  waiting. 

*'  My  wife  has  the  bottle,"  said  Keawe,  "  and, 
unless  you  help  me  to  recover  it,  there  can  be 
no  more  money  and  no  more  liquor  to-night." 

"You  do  not  mean  to  say  you  are  serious 
about  that  bottle  ?  "  cried  the  boatswain. 

"  There  is  the  lamp,"  said  Keawe.  "  Do  I 
look  as  if  I  was  jesting  ?  " 

"  That  is  so,"  said  the  boatswain.  "  You  look 
as  serious  as  a  ghost." 

"  Well,  then,"  said  Keawe,  "  here  are  two 
centimes ;  you  must  go  to  my  wife  in  the  house, 
and  offer  her  these  for  the  bottle,  which  (if  I 
am  not  much  mistaken)  she  will  give  you  in- 
stantly. Bring  it  to  me  here,  and  I  will  buy  it 
back  from  you  for  one  ;  for  that  is  the  law  with 
this  bottle,  that  it  still  must  be  sold  for  a  less 
sum.  But  whatever  you  do,  never  breathe  a 
word  to  her  that  you  have  come  from  me." 

"  Mate,  I  wonder  are  you  making  a  fool  of 
me  ?  "  asked  the  boatswain. 


180  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

"  It  will  do  you  no  harm  if  I  am,"  returned 
Keawe. 

"  That  is  so,  mate,"  said  the  boatswain. 

"  And  if  you  doubt  me,"  added  Keawe,  "  you 
can  try.  As  soon  as  you  are  clear  of  the  house, 
wish  to  have  your  pocket  full  of  money,  or  a 
bottle  of  the  best  rum,  or  what  you  please,  and 
you  will  see  the  virtue  of  the  thing." 

"  Yery  well.  Kanaka,"  says  the  boatswain. 
*'  I  will  try  ;  but  if  you  are  having  your  fun  out 
of  me,  I  will  take  my  fun  out  of  you  with  a  be- 
laying-pin." 

So  the  whaler-man  went  off  up  the  avenue  ; 
and  Keawe  stood  and  waited.  It  was  near  the 
same  spot  where  Kokua  had  waited  the  night 
before  ;  but  Keawe  was  more  resolved,  and  never 
faltered  in  his  purpose  ;  only  his  soul  was  bitter 
with  despair. 

It  seemed  a  long  time  he  had  to  wait  before 
he  heard  a  voice  singing  in  the  darkness  of  the 
avenue.  He  knew  the  voice  to  be  the  boat- 
swain's ;  but  it  was  strange  how  drunken  it  aj)- 
peared  upon  a  sudden. 

Next  the  man  himself  came  stumbling  into 
the  light  of  the  lamp.  He  had  the  devil's  bottle 
bu.ttoned  in  his  coat ;  another  bottle  was  in  his 
hand  ;  and  even  as  he  came  in  view  he  raised  it 
to  his  mouth  and  drank. 


-I 


•^*ll*-   -  p 


THE  BOTTLE  IMP  IS  I 

"  You  have  it,"  said  Keawe.     "  I  see  that." 

"  Hands  off !  "  cried  the  boatswain,  jumping 
back.  "  Take  a  step  near  me,  and  I'll  smash 
your  mouth.  You  thought  you  could  make  a 
cat's  paw  of  me,  did  you  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  cried  Keawe. 

"Mean?"  cried  the  boatswain.  "This  is  a 
pretty  good  bottle,  this  is ;  that's  what  I  mean. 
How  I  got  it  for  two  centimes  I  can't  make  out ; 
but  I'm  sure  you  sha'n't  have  it  for  one." 

"  You  mean  you  won't  sell  ?  "  gasped  Keawe. 

"  No,  sir,"  cried  the  boatswain.  "  But  I'll 
give  you  a  drink  of  the  rum,  if  you  like." 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  Keawe,  "  the  man  who  has 
that  bottle  goes  to  hell." 

"  I  reckon  I'm  going  anyway,"  returned  the 
sailor  ;  "  and  this  bottle's  the  best  thing  to  go 
with  I've  struck  yet.  No,  sir !  "  he  cried  again, 
"  this  is  my  bottle  now,  and  you  can  go  and  fish 
for  another." 

"  Can  this  be  true  ?  "  Keawe  cried.  "  For 
your  own  sake,  I  beseech  you,  sell  it  me !  " 

"  I  don't  value  any  of  your  talk,"  replied  the 
boatswain.  "  You  thought  I  was  a  flat,  now  you 
see  I'm  not ;  and  there's  an  end.  If  you  won't 
have  a  swallow  of  the  rum,  I'll  have  one  my- 
self. Here's  your  health,  and  good -night  to 
you ! " 


182  THE  BOTTLE  IMP 

So  off  he  went  down  the  avenue  toward  town, 
and  there  goes  the  bottle  out  of  the  story. 

But  Keawe  ran  to  Kokua  light  as  the  wind  ; 
and  great  was  their  joy  that  night ;  and  great, 
since  then,  has  been  the  peace  of  all  their  days 
in  the  Bright  House. 


THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 


THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 


KEOLA  was  married  with  Leliua,  daughter 
of  Kalamake,  the  wise  man  Molokai,  and 
he  kept  his  dwelling  with  the  father  of 
his  wife.  There  was  no  man  more  cunning 
than  that  prophet ;  he  read  the  stars,  he  could 
divine  by  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  by  the 
means  of  evil  creatures :  he  could  go  alone  into 
the  highest  parts  of  the  mountain,  into  the  re- 
gion of  the  hobgoblins,  and  there  he  would  lay 
snares  to  entrap  the  spirits  of  ancient. 

For  this  reason  no  man  was  more  consulted 
in  all  the  Kingdom  of  Hawaii.  Prudent  people 
bought,  and  sold,  and  married,  and  laid  out  their 
lives  by  his  counsels ;  and  the  King  had  him 
twice  to  Kona  to  seek  the  treasures  of  Kameha- 
meha.  Neither  was  any  man  more  feared :  of 
his  enemies,  some  had  dwindled  in  sickness  by 
the  virtue  of  his  incantations,  and  some  had 
been  spirited  away,  the  life  and  the  clay  both, 
so  that  folk  looked  in  vain  for  so  much  as  a 
bone  of  their  bodies.     It  was  rumored  that  he 


186  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

had  the  art  or  the  gift  of  the  old  heroes.  Men 
had  seen  him  at  night  upon  the  mountains,  step- 
ping from  one  cliff  to  the  next ;  they  had  seen 
him  walking  in  the  high  forest,  and  his  head 
and  shoulders  were  above  the  trees. 

This  Kalamake  was  a  strange  man  to  see.  He 
was  come  of  the  best  blood  in  Molokai  and 
Maui,  of  a  pure  descent ;  and  yet  he  was  more 
white  to  look  upon  than  any  foreigner ;  his  hair 
the  color  of  dry  grass,  and  his  eyes  red  and 
very  blind,  so  that  "  Blind  as  Kalamake  that 
can  see  across  to-morrow,"  was  a  byword  in  the 
islands. 

Of  all  these  doings  of  his  father-in-law, 
Keola  knew  a  little  by  the  common  repute, 
a  little  more  he  suspected,  and  the  rest  he 
ignored.  But  there  was  one  thing  troubled 
him.  Kalamake  was  a  man  that  spared  for 
nothing,  whether  to  eat  or  to  drink,  or  to  wear  ; 
and  for  all  he  paid  in  bright  new  dollars. 
"  Bright  as  Kalamake's  dollars,"  was  another 
saying  in  the  Eight  Isles.  Yet  he  neither  sold, 
nor  planted,  nor  took  hire — only  now  and  then 
from  his  sorceries — and  there  was  no  source 
conceivable  for  so  much  silver  coin. 

It  chanced  one  day  Keola's  wife  was  gone 
upon  a  visit  to  Kaunakakai  on  the  lee  side  of  the 
island,  and  the  men  were  forth  at  the  sea-lishing. 


THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES  1S7 

But  Keola  was  an  idle  dog,  and  lie  lay  in  the 
veranda  and  watched  the  surf  beat  on  the  shore 
and  the  birds  fly  about  the  cliff.  It  was  a  chief 
thought  with  him  always — the  thought  of  the 
bright  dollars.  When  he  lay  down  to  bed  he 
would  be  wondering  why  they  were  so  many,  and 
when  he  woke  at  morn  he  would  be  wondering 
why  they  were  all  new ;  and  the  thing  was  never 
absent  from  his  mind.  But  this  day  of  all  days 
he  made  sure  in  his  heart  of  some  discovery. 
For  it  seems  he  had  observed  the  place  where 
Kalamake  kept  his  treasure,  which  was  a  lock- 
fast desk  against  the  parlor  wall,  under  the 
print  of  Kamehameha  the  fifth,  and  a  photo- 
graph of  Queen  Victoria  with  her  crown ;  and 
it  seems  again  that,  no  later  than  the  night 
before,  he  found  occasion  to  look  in,  and  behold ! 
the  bag  lay  there  empty.  And  this  was  the  day 
of  the  steamer ;  he  could  see  her  smoke  off 
Kalaupapa ;  and  she  must  soon  arrive  with  a 
month's  goods,  tinned  salmon  and  gin,  and  all 
manner  of  rare  luxuries  for  Kalamake. 

"Now  if  he  can  pay  for  his  goods  to-day," 
Keola  thought,  "  I  shall  know  for  certain  that 
the  man  is  a  warlock,  and  the  dollars  come  out 
of  the  Devil's  pocket." 

While  he  was  so  thinking,  there  was  his 
father-in-law  behind  him,  looking  vexed. 


1S8  THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES 

"  Is  that  the  steamer  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Yes,"  said  Keola.  "  She  has  but  to  call  at 
Pelekunu,  and  then  she  will  be  here." 

"  There  is  no  help  for  it  then,"  returned  Kala- 
make,  "  and  I  must  take  you  in  my  confidence, 
Keola,  for  the  lack  of  anyone  better.  Come 
here  within  the  house." 

So  they  stepped  together  into  the  parlor, 
which  was  a  very  fine  room,  papered  and  hung 
with  prints,  and  furnished  with  a  rocking-chair, 
and  a  table  and  a  sofa  in  the  European  style. 
There  was  a  shelf  of  books  besides,  and  a  family 
Bible  in  the  midst  of  the  table,  and  the  lock -fast 
writing-desk  against  the  wall;  so  that  anyone 
could  see  it  was  the  house  of  a  man  of  sub- 
stance. 

Kalamake  made  Keola  close  the  shutters  of 
the  windows,  while  he  himself  locked  all  the 
doors  and  set  open  the  lid  of  the  desk.  From 
this  he  brought  forth  a  pair  of  necklaces  hung 
with  charms  and  shells,  a  bundle  of  dried  herbs, 
and  the  dried  leaves  of  trees,  and  a  green  branch 
of  palm. 

*'  What  I  am  about,"  said  he,  "  is  a  thing  be- 
yond wonder.  The  men  of  old  were  wise ;  they 
wrought  marvels,  and  this  among  the  rest ;  but 
that  was  at  night,  in  the  dark,  under  the  fit  stars 
and  in  the  desert.     The  same  will  I  do  here  in 


\4* 


WHILE   HE   WAS   SO    THINKING,    THERE   WAS    HIS   FATHER-IN-LAW 
BEHIND   HIM,    LOOKING  VEXED." 


THE  ISLE   OF   VOICES  189 

my  own  house,  and  under  the  plain  eye  of  day." 
So  saying,  he  put  the  Bible  imder  the  cushion 
of  the  sofa  so  that  it  was  all  covered,  brought 
out  from  the  same  place  a  mat  of  a  wonderfully 
fine  texture,  and  heaped  the  herbs  and  leaves 
on  sand  in  a  tin  pan.  And  then  he  and  Keola 
put  on  the  necklaces,  and  took  their  stand  upon 
the  opposite  corners  of  the  mat. 

"  The  time  comes,"  said  the  warlock  ;  "  be  not 
afraid." 

With  that  he  set  flame  to  the  herbs,  and  be- 
gan to  mutter  and  wave  the  branch  of  palm.  At 
first  the  light  was  dim  because  of  the  closed 
shutters ;  but  the  herbs  caught  strongly  afire, 
and  the  flames  beat  upon  Keola,  and  the  room 
glowed  with  the  burning  ;  and  next  the  smoke 
rose  and  made  his  head  swim  and  his  eyes  dark- 
en, and  the  sound  of  Kalamake  muttering  ran 
in  his  ears.  And  suddenly,  to  the  mat  on  which 
they  were  standing  came  a  snatch  or  twitch,  that 
seemed  to  be  more  swift  than  lightning.  In  the 
same  wink  the  room  was  gone,  and  the  house, 
the  breath  all  beaten  from  Keola's  body.  Vol- 
umes of  sun  rolled  upon  his  eyes  and  head,  and 
he  found  himself  transported  to  a  beach  of  the 
sea,  under  a  strong  sun,  with  a  gi-eat  surf  roar- 
ing :  he  and  the  warlock  standing  there  on  the 
same  mat,  speechless,  gasping   and  grasping  at 


190  THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES 

one  another,  and  passing  their  hands  before 
their  eyes. 

"  What  was  this  ?  "  cried  Keola,  who  came  to 
himself  the  first,  because  he  was  the  younger. 
"  The  pang  of  it  was  like  death." 

'  It  matters  not,"  panted  Kalamake.  "  It  is 
now  done." 

"  And,  in  the  name  of  God,  where  are  we  ?  " 
cried  Keola. 

"  That  is  not  the  question,"  replied  the  sor- 
cerer. "Being  here,  we  have  matter  in  our 
hands,  and  that  we  must  attend  to.  Go,  while  I 
recover  my  breath,  into  the  borders  of  the  wood, 
and  bring  me  the  leaves  of  such  and  such  a 
herb,  and  such  and  such  a  tree,  which  you  will 
find  to  grow  there  plentifully — three  handfuls  of 
each.  And  be  speedy.  We  must  be  home 
again  before  the  steamer  comes  ;  it  would  seem 
strange  if  we  had  disappeared."  And  he  sat  on 
the  sand  and  panted. 

Keola  went  up  the  beach,  which  was  of  shin- 
ing sand  and  coral,  strewn  with  singular  shells ; 
and  he  thought  in  his  heart 

"  How  do  I  not  know  this  beach  ?  I  will  come 
here  again  and  gather  shells." 

In  front  of  him  was  a  line  of  palms  against 
the  sky  ;  not  like  the  palms  of  the  Eight  Islands, 
but   tall  and  fresh  and  beautiful,  and  hanging 


IVO 


n%~^ 


THE   HEEBS   CAUGHT    STRONGLY   AFIEE,    AND    THE   FLAMES   BEAT 
UPON   KEOLA." 


THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES  191 

out  withered  fans  like  gold  among  the  green, 
and  he  thought  in  his  heart 

"It  is  strange  I  should  not  have  found  this 
grove.  I  will  come  here  again,  when  it  is  warm, 
to  sleep."  And  he  thought,  "  How  warm  it  has 
grown  suddenly ! "  For  it  was  winter  in  Hawaii, 
and  the  day  had  been  chill.  And  he  thought 
also,  "Where  are  the  gray  mountains?  And 
where  is  the  high  cliff  with  the  hanging  forest 
and  the  wheeling  birds  ?  "  And  the  more  he 
considered,  the  less  he  might  conceive  in  what 
quarter  of  the  islands  he  was  fallen. 

In  the  border  of  the  grove,  where  it  met  the 
beach,  the  herb  was  growing,  but  the  tree  fur- 
ther back.  Now,  as  Keola  went  toward  the 
tree,  he  was  aware  of  a  young  woman  who  had 
nothing  on  her  body  but  a  belt  of  leaves. 

"  Well !  "  thought  Keola,  "  they  are  not  very 
particular  about  their  dress  in  this  part  of  the 
country."  And  he  paused,  supposing  she  would 
observe  him  and  escape ;  and  seeing  that  she 
still  looked  before  her,  stood  and  hummed  aloud. 
Up  she  leaped  at  the  sound.  Her  face  was 
ashen  ;  she  looked  this  way  and  that,  and  her 
mouth  gaped  with  the  terror  of  her  soul.  But 
it  was  a  strange  thing  that  her  eyes  did  not  rest 
upon  Keola. 

"  Good-day,"  said  he.     "  You  need  not  be  so 


192  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

frightened,  I  will  not  eat  you."  And  lie  had 
scarce  opened  his  mouth  before  the  young 
woman  fled  into  the  bush. 

"  These  are  strange  manners,"  thought  Keola. 
And,  not  thinking  what  he  did,  ran  after  her. 

As  she  ran,  the  girl  kept  crjdng  in  some 
speech  that  was  not  practiced  in  Hawaii,  yet 
some  of  the  words  were  the  same,  and  he  knew 
she  kept  calling  and  warning  others.  And  pres- 
ently he  saw  more  people  running — men,  women, 
and  children,  one  with  another,  all  running  and 
crying  like  people  at  a  fire.  And  with  that  he 
began  to  grow  afraid  himself,  and  returned  to 
Kalamake  bringing  the  leaves.  Him  he  told 
what  he  had  seen. 

"You  must  pay  no  heed,"  said  Kalamake. 
"  All  this  is  like  a  dream  and  shadows.  All  will 
disappear  and  be  forgotten." 

*'  It  seemed  none  saw  me,"  said  Keola. 

*'  And  none  did,"  replied  the  sorcerer.  "  "We 
walk  here  in  the  broad  sun  invisible  by  reason 
of  these  charms.  Yet  they  hear  us  ;  and  there- 
fore it  is  well  to  speak  softly,  as  I  do." 

"With  that  he  made  a  circle  round  the  mat 
with  stones,  and  in  the  midst  he  set  the  leaves. 

"  It  will  be  your  part,"  said  he,  "  to  keep  the 
leaves  alight,  and  feed  the  fire  slowly.  While 
they  blaze  (which  is  but  for  a  little  moment)  I 


.-^-'•^ 


f  4 


THb'  ISLE  OF   VOICES  193 

must  do  my  errand  ;  and  before  the  ashes  black- 
en, the  same  power  that  brought  us  carries  us 
away.  Be  ready  now  with  the  match  ;  and  do 
you  call  me  in  good  time  lest  the  flames  burn 
out  and  I  be  left." 

As  soon  as  the  leaves  caught,  the  sorcerer 
leaped  like  a  deer  out  of  the  circle,  and  began 
to  race  along  the  beacli  like  a  hound  that  has 
been  bathing.  As  he  ran,  he  kept  stooping  to 
snatch  shells  ;  and  it  seemed  to  Keola  that  they 
glittered  as  he  took  them.  The  leaves  blazed 
with  a  clear  flame  that  consumed  them  swiftly ; 
and  presently  Keola  had  but  a  handful  left,  and 
the  sorcerer  was  far  off,  running  and  stopping. 

"  Back  !  "  cried  Keola.  "  Back  !  The  leaves 
are  near  done." 

At  that  Kalamake  turned,  and  if  he  had  run 
before,  now  he  flew.  But  fast  as  he  ran,  the 
leaves  burned  faster.  The  flame  was  ready  to 
expire  when,  with  a  great  leap,  he  bounded  on 
the  mat.  The  wind  of  his  leaping  blew  it  out; 
and  with  that  the  beach  was  gone,  and  the  sue 
and  the  sea  ;  and  they  stood  once  more  in  tha 
dimness  of  the  shuttered  parlor,  and  were  onca 
more  shaken  and  blinded ;  and  on  the  mat  be- 
twixt them  lay  a  pile  of  shining  dollars.  Keola 
ran  to  the  shutters  ;  and  there  was  the  steamei 
tossing  in  the  swell  close  in. 


194  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICE 8 

The  same  night  Kahimake  took  his  sou-in-la^v 
apart,  and  gave  him  five  dollars  in  his  hand. 

"  Keola,"  said  he  ;  "  if  you  are  a  wise  man 
(which  I  am  doubtful  of)  you  will  think  you  slept 
this  afternoon  on  the  veranda,  and  dreamed  as 
you  were  sleeping.  I  am  a  man  of  few  words, 
and  I  have  for  my  helpers  people  of  short  mem- 
ories." 

Never  a  word  more  said  Kalamake,  nor  re- 
feiTed  again  to  that  affair.  But  it  ran  all  the 
while  in  Keola' s  head — if  he  were  lazy  before, 
he  would  now  do  nothing. 

"  Why  should  I  work,"  thought  he,  "  when  I 
have  a  father-in-law  who  makes  dollars  of  sea- 
shells  ?  " 

Presently  his  share  was  spent.  He  spent  it 
all  upon  fine  clothes.     And  then  he  was  sorry  : 

"For,"  thought  he,  "I  had  done  better  to 
have  bought  a  concertina,  with  which  I  might 
have  entertained  mj^self  all  day  long."  And 
then  he  began  to  grow  vexed  with  Kalamake. 

"  This  man  has  the  soul  of  a  dog,"  thought 
he.  "  He  can  gather  dollars  when  he  pleases  on 
the  beach,  and  he  leaves  me  to  pine  for  a  con- 
certina !  Let  him  beware :  I  am  no  child,  I  am 
as  cunning  as  he,  and  hold  his  secret."  With 
that  he  s]3oke  to  his  wife  Leliua,  and  complained 
of  her  father's  manners. 


THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES  195 

"I  would  let  my  father  be,"  saidLeliua.  " He 
is  a  dangerous  man  to  cross." 

"  I  care  that  for  him ! "  cried  Keola ;  and 
snapped  his  fingers.  "  I  have  him  by  the  nose. 
I  can  make  him  do  what  I  please."  And  he  told 
Lehua  the  story. 

But  she  shook  her  head. 

"  You  may  do  what  you  like,"  said  she ;  "  but 
as  sure  as  you  thwart  my  father,  you  will  be  no 
more  heard  of.  Think  of  this  person,  and  that 
person ;  think  of  Hua,  who  was  a  noble  of  the 
House  of  Eepresentatives,  and  went  to  Honolulu 
every  year  ;  and  not  a  bone  or  a  hair  of  him  was 
found.  Remember  Kamau,  and  how  he  wasted 
to  a  thread,  so  that  his  wife  lifted  him  with  one 
hand.  Keola,  you  are  a  baby  in  my  father's 
hands  ;  he  will  take  you  with  his  thumb  and 
finger  and  eat  you  like  a  shrimp." 

Now  Keola  was  truly  afraid  of  Kalamake, 
but  he  was  vain  too  ;  and  these  words  of  his 
wife's  incensed  him. 

"Very  well,"  said  he,  *'if  that  is  what  you 
think  of  me,  I  will  show  how  much  you  are 
deceived."  And  he  went  straight  to  where  his 
*ather-in-law  was  sitting  in  the  parlor. 

"  Kalamake,"  said  he,  "  I  want  a  concer- 
tina." 

"  Do  you,  indeed  ?  "  said  Kalamake. 


196  THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  and  I  may  as  well  tell  you 
plainly,  I  mean  to  have  it.  A  man  who  picks 
up  dollars  on  the  beach  can  certainly  afford  a 
concertina." 

*'  I  had  no  idea  you  had  so  much  spirit,"  re- 
plied the  sorcerer.  "I  thought  you  were  a 
timid,  useless  lad,  and  I  cannot  describe  how 
much  pleased  I  am  to  find  I  was  mistaken.  Now 
I  begin  to  think  I  may  have  found  an  assistant 
and  successor  in  my  difficult  business.  A  con- 
certina ?  You  shall  have  the  best  in  Honolulu. 
And  to-night,  as  soon  as  it  is  dark,  you  and  I 
will  go  and  find  the  money." 

"  Shall  we  return  to  the  beach  ? "  asked 
Keola. 

"  No,  no  !  "  replied  Kalamake  ;  "  you  must  be- 
gin to  learn  more  of  my  secrets.  Last  time  I 
taught  you  to  pick  shells  ;  this  time  I  shall  teach 
you  to  catch  fish.  Are  you  strong  enough  to 
launch  Pili's  boat  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  am,"  returned  Keola.  "  But  why 
should  we  not  take  your  own,  which  is  afioat 
already  ?  " 

"  I  have  a  reason  which  you  will  understand 
thoroughly  before  to-morrow,"  said  Kalamake. 
"  Pili's  boat  is  the  better  suited  for  my  purposo. 
So,  if  you  please,  let  us  meet  there  as  soon  as  it 
dark;  and   in  the  meanwhile,  let  us   keep   our 


THE  ISLE   OF   VOICES  197 

own  counsel,  for  there  is  no  cause  to  let  tlie 
family  into  our  business." 

Honey  is  not  more  sweet  than  was  the  voice 
of  Kalamake,  and  Keola  could  scarce  contain  his 
satisfaction. 

"  I  might  have  had  my  concertina  weeks  ago," 
thought  he,  "  and  there  is  nothing  needed  in  this 
world  but  a  little  courage." 

Presently  after  he  spied  Lehua  weeping,  and 
was  half  in  a  mind  to  tell  her  all  was  well. 

" But  no,"  thinks  he  ;  "I  shall  wait  till  I  can 
show  her  the  concertina  ;  we  shall  see  what  the 
chit  will  do  then.  Perhaps  she  will  understand 
in  the  future  that  her  husband  is  a  man  of  some 
intelligence." 

As  soon  as  it  was  dark  father  and  son-in-law 
launched  Pili's  boat  and  set  the  sail.  There  was 
a  great  sea,  and  it  blew  strong  from  the  lee- 
ward ;  but  the  boat  was  swift  and  light  and  dry, 
and  skimmed  the  waves.  The  wizard  had  a 
lantern,  which  he  lit  and  held  with  his  finger 
through  the  ring ;  and  the  two  sat  in  the  stern 
and  smoked  cigars,  of  which  Kalamake  had 
always  a  provision,  and  spoke  like  friends  of 
magic  and  the  great  sums  of  money  which  they 
could  make  by  its  exercise,  and  what  they 
should  buy  first,  and  what  second ;  and  Kala- 
make talked  like  a  father. 


198  THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES 

Presently  lie  looked  all  about,  and  above  him 
at  the  stars,  and  back  at  the  island,  which  was 
already  three  parts  sunk  under  the  sea,  and  he 
seemed  to  consider  ripely  his  position. 

"  Look  !  "  says  he,  "  there  is  Molokai  already 
far  behind  us,  and  Maui  like  a  cloud ;  and  by  the 
bearing  of  these  three  stars  I  know  I  am  come 
where  I  desire.  This  part  of  the  sea  is  called 
the  Sea  of  the  Dead.  It  is  in  this  place  extraor- 
dinarily deep,  and  the  floor  is  all  covered  with 
the  bones  of  men,  and  in  the  holes  of  this  part 
gods  and  goblins  keep  their  habitation.  The 
flow  of  the  sea  is  to  the  north,  stronger  than  a 
shark  can  swim,  and  any  man  who  shall  here  be 
thrown  out  of  a  ship  it  bears  aw^ay  like  a  wild 
horse  into  the  uttermost  ocean.  Presently  he  is 
spent  and  goes  down,  and  his  bones  are  scattered 
with  the  rest,  and  the  gods  devour  his  sjoirit." 

Fear  came  on  Keola  at  the  words,  and  he 
looked,  and  by  the  light  of  the  stars  and  the 
lantern,  the  warlock  seemed  to  change. 

"  What  ails  you  ?  "  cried  Keola,  quick  and 
sharp. 

"It  is  not  I  who  am  ailing,"  said  the  wdzard  ; 
"  but  there  is  one  here  very  sick  " 

With  that  he  changed  his  grasp  upon  the  lan- 
tern, and,  behold !  as  he  drew  his  finger  from 
the  ring,  the  finger  stuck  and  the  ring  was  burst, 


THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES  199 

and  liis  liancl  was  grown  to  be  of  tlie  bigness  of 
three. 

At  that  sight  Keola  screamed  and  covered  his 
face. 

But  Kalamake  held  up  the  lantern.  "  Look 
rather  at  my  face !  "  said  he — and  his  head  was 
huge  as  a  barrel ;  and  still  he  grew  and  grew  as 
a  cloud  grows  on  a  mountain,  and  Keola  sat 
before  him  screaming,  and  the  boat  raced  on 
the  great  seas. 

"  And  now,"  said  the  wizard,  "  what  do  you 
think  about  that  concertina?  and  are  you  sure 
you  would  not  rather  have  a  flute  ?  No  ?  "  says 
he ;  "  that  is  well,  for  I  do  not  like  my  family 
to  be  changeable  of  purpose.  But  I  begin  to 
think  I  had  better  get  out  of  this  paltry  boat, 
for  my  bulk  swells  to  a  very  unusual  degree,  and 
if  we  are  not  the  more  careful,  she  will  presently 
be  swamped." 

With  that  he  threw  his  legs  over  the  side. 
Even  as  he  did  so,  the  greatness  of  the  man 
grew  thirtyfold  and  fortyfold  as  swift  as  sight 
or  thinking,  so  that  he  stood  in  the  deep  seas 
to  the  armpits,  and  his  head  and  shoulders  rose 
like  a  high  isle,  and  the  swell  beat  and  burst 
upon  his  bosom,  as  it  beats  and  breaks  against 
a  cliff.  The  boat  ran  still  to  the  north,  but  he 
reached  out  his  hand,  and  took  the  gunwale  by 


200  THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES 

tlie  finger  and  tliiimb,  and  broke  tlie  side  like  a 
biscuit,  and  Keoki  was  spilled  into  the  sea.  And 
the  pieces  of  the  boat  the  sorcerer  crushed  in 
the  hollow  of  his  hand  and  flung  miles  away 
into  the  night. 

"Excuse  me  taking  the  lantern,"  said  he;  "for 
I  have  a  long  wade  before  me,  and  the  land  is 
far,  and  the  bottom  of  the  sea  uneven,  and  I 
feel  the  bones  under  my  toes." 

And  he  turned  and  went  off  walking  with 
great  strides ;  and  as  often  as  Keola  sank  in  the 
trough  he  could  see  him  no  longer ;  but  as  often 
as  he  was  heaved  upon  the  crest,  there  he  was 
striding  and  dwindling,  and  he  held  the  lamp 
high  over  his  head,  and  the  waves  broke  white 
about  him  as  he  went. 

Since  first  the  islands  were  fished  out  of  the 
sea,  there  was  never  a  man  so  terrified  as  this 
Keola.  He  swam  indeed,  but  he  swam  as  pup- 
pies swim  when  they  are  cast  in  to  droAvn,  and 
knew  not  wherefore.  He  could  but  think  of  the 
hugeness  of  the  swelling  of  the  warlock,  of  that 
face  which  was  great  as  a  mountain,  of  those 
shoulders  that  were  broad  as  an  isle,  and  of  the 
seas  that  beat  on  them  in  vain.  He  thought, 
too,  of  the  concertina,  and  shame  took  hold 
upon  him ;  and  of  the  dead  men's  bones,  and 
fear  shook  him. 


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THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES  201 

Of  a  sudden  he  was  aware  of  something  dark 
against  the  stars  that  tossed,  and  a  light  below, 
and  a  brightness  of  the  cloven  sea ;  and  hu 
heard  speech  of  men.  He  cried  out  aloud  and 
a  voice  answered ;  and  in  a  twinkling  the  bows 
of  a  ship  hung  above  him  on  a  wave  like  a 
thing  balanced,  and  swooped  down.  He  caught 
with  his  two  hands  in  the  chains  of  her,  and  the 
next  moment  was  buried  in  the  rushing  seas, 
and  the  next  hauled  on  board  by  seamen. 

They  gave  him  gin  and  biscuit  and  dry  clothes, 
and  asked  him  how  he  came  where  they  found 
him,  and  whether  the  light  which  they  had  seen 
was  the  lighthouse,  Lae  o  Ka  Laau.  But  Keola 
knew  white  men  are  like  children  and  only  be- 
lieve their  own  stories ;  so  about  himself  he 
told  them  what  he  pleased,  and  as  for  the  light 
(which  was  Kalamake's  lantern)  he  vowed  he 
had  seen  none. 

This  slii]D  was  a  schooner  bound  for  Honoluhi, 
and  then  to  trade  in  the  low  islands  ;  and  by  a 
very  good  chance  for  Keola  she  had  lost  a  man 
off  the  bowsprit  in  a  squall.  It  was  no  use  talk- 
ing. Keola  durst  not  stay  in  the  Eight  Islands. 
Word  goes  so  quickly,  and  all  men  are  so  fond 
to  talk  and  carry  news,  that  if  he  hid  in  the 
north  end  of  Kauai  or  in  the  south  end  of  Kaii, 
the  wizard  would  have  wind  of  it  before  a  month. 


202  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

and  he  must  perisli.  So  lie  did  what  seemed 
the  most  prudent,  and  shipped  sailor  in  the 
place  of  the  man  who  had  been  drowned. 

In  some  ways  the  ship  was  a  good  place.  The 
food  was  extraordinarily  rich  and  plenty,  with 
biscuits  and  salt  beef  every  day,  and  pea-soup 
and  puddings  made  of  flour  and  suet  twice  a 
week,  so  that  Keola  grew  fat.  The  captain  also 
was  a  good  man,  and  the  crew  no  worse  than 
other  whites.  The  trouble  was  the  mate,  who  was 
the  most  difficult  man  to  please  Keola  had  ever 
met  with,  and  beat  and  cursed  him  daily,  both  for 
what  he  did  and  what  he  did  not.  The  blows 
that  he  dealt  were  very  sure,  for  he  was  strong  ; 
and  the  words  he  used  were  very  unpalatable, 
for  Keola  was  come  of  a  good  family  and  accus- 
tomed to  respect.  And  what  was  the  worst  of 
all,  whenever  Keola  found  a  chance  to  sleep, 
there  was  the  mate  awake  and  stirring  him  up 
with  a  rope's  end.  Keola  saw  it  would  never 
do ;  and  he  made  up  his  mind  to  run  away. 

They  were  about  a  month  out  from  Honolulu 
when  they  made  the  land.  It  was  a  fine  staiTy 
night,  the  sea  w^as  smooth  as  well  as  the  sky 
fair  ;  it  blew  a  steady  trade  ;  and  there  was  the 
island  on  their  weather  bow,  a  ribbon  of  palm 
trees  lying  flat  along  the  sea.  The  captain  and 
the  mate  looked  at  it  with  the  night  glass,  and 


THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES  203 

named  the  name  of  it,  and  talked  of  it,  beside 
tlie  wheel  where  Keola  was  steering.  It  seemed 
it  was  an  isle  where  no  traders  came.  By  the 
captain's  way,  it  was  an  isle  besides  where  no 
man  dwelt ;  but  the  mate  thought  otherwise. 

"  I  don't  give  a  cent  for  the  directory,"  said 
he.  "I've  been  past  here  one  night  in  the 
schooner  Eugenie :  it  was  just  such  a  night  as 
tliis  ;  they  were  fishing  with  torches,  and  the 
beach  was  thick  with  lio-hts  like  a  town." 

"  Well,  well,"  says  the  captain,  "  its  steep-to, 
that's  the  great  point ;  and  there  ain't  any  out- 
lying dangers  by  the  chart,  so  we'll  just  hug  the 
lee  side  of  it.  Keep  her  ramping  full,  don't  I 
tell  you  !  "  he  cried  to  Keola,  wdio  was  listening 
so  hard  that  he  forgot  to  steer. 

And  the  mate  cursed  him,  and  swore  that 
Kanaka  was  for  no  use  in  the  world,  and  if  he 
got  started  after  him  with  a  belaying  pin,  it 
would  be  a  cold  day  for  Keola. 

And  so  the  captain  and  mate  lay  down  on  the 
house  together,  and  Keola  was  left  to  himself. 

"  This  island  will  do  very  well  for  me,"  he 
thought  ;  "if  no  traders  deal  there,  the  mate 
will  never  come.  And  as  for  Kalamake,  it  is  not 
possible  he  can  ever  get  as  far  as  this." 

With  that  he  kept  edging  the  schooner  nearer 
in.     He  had  to  do  this  quietly,  for  it  was  the 


204  THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES 

trouble  with  these  white  men,  and  above  all 
with  the  mate,  that  you  could  never  be  sure  of 
them  ;  they  would  all  be  sleeping  sound,  or  else 
pretending,  and  if  a  sail  shook,  they  would  jump 
to  their  feet  and  fall  on  you  with  a  rope's  end. 
So  Keola  edged  her  up  little  by  little,  and  kept 
all  drawing.  And  presently  the  land  was  close 
on  board,  and  the  sound  of  the  sea  on  the  sides 
of  it  grew  loud. 

AVith  that,  the  mate  sat  up  suddenly  upon  the 
house. 

"  What  are  you  doing  ?  "  he  roars.  "  You'll 
have  the  ship  ashore  !  " 

And  he  made  one  bound  for  Keola,  and  Keola 
made  another  clean  over  the  rail  and  plump  into 
the  starry  sea.  When  he  came  up  again,  the 
schooner  had  payed  off  on  her  true  course,  and 
the  mate  stood  by  the  wheel  himself,  and .  Keola 
heard  him  cursing.  The  sea  was  smooth  under 
the  lee  of  the  island ;  it  was  warm  besides,  and 
Keola  had  his  sailor's  knife,  so  he  had  no  fear 
of  sharks.  A  little  way  before  him  the  trees 
stopped  ;  there  was  a  break  in  the  line  of  the 
land  like  the  mouth  of  a  harbor ;  and  the  tide, 
which  was  then  flowing,  took  him  up  and  car- 
ried him  through.  One  minute  he  was  without, 
and  the  next  within,  had  floated  there  in  a  wide 
shallow  water,  bright  with  ten  thousand  stars, 


TUE  ISLE  OF   VOICES  205 

and  all  about  liim  was  the  ring  of  the  land,  with 
its  string  of  palm-trees.  And  he  was  amazed, 
because  this  was  a  kind  of  island  he  had  never 
heard  of. 

The  time  of  Keola  in  that  place  was  in  two 
periods — the  period  when  he  was  alone,  and  the 
period  when  he  was  there  with  the  tribe.  At 
first  he  sought  everywhere  and  found  no  man ; 
only  some  houses  standing  in  a  hamlet,  and  the 
marks  of  fires.  But  the  ashes  of  the  fires  were 
cold  and  the  rains  had  washed  them  away ;  and 
the  winds  had  blown,  and  some  of  the  huts  were 
overthrown.  It  was  here  he  took  his  dwelling  : 
and  he  made  a  fire  drill,  and  a  shell  hook,  and 
fished  and  cooked  his  fish,  and  climbed  after 
green  cocoanuts,  the  juice  of  which  he  drank,  for 
in  all  the  isle  there  was  no  water.  The  days 
were  long  to  him,  and  the  nights  terrifying. 
He  made  a  lamp  of  cocoa-shell,  and  drew  the  oil 
of  the  ripe  nuts,  and  made  a  wick  of  fibre  ;  and 
when  evening  came  he  closed  up  his  hut,  and  lit 
his  lamp,  and  lay  and  trembled  till  morning. 
Many  a  time  he  thought  in  his  heart  he  would 
have  been  better  in  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  his 
bones  rolling  there  with  the  others. 

All  this  while  he  kept  by  the  inside  of  the 
island,  for  the  huts  were  on  the  shore  of  the 
lagoon,  and  it  Avas  there  the  palms  grew  best, 


20G  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

and  tlie  lagoon  itself  abounded  with  good  fisli. 
And  to  tlie  outer  side  he  went  once  only,  and  he 
looked  but  once  at  the  beach  of  the  ocean,  and 
came  away  shaking.  For  the  look  of  it,  with  its 
bright  sand,  and  strewn  shells,  and  strong  sun 
and  surf,  went  sore  against  his  inclination. 

"  It  cannot  be,"  he  thought,  "  and  yet  it  is 
very  like.  And  how  do  I  know  ?  These  white 
men,  although  they  pretend  to  know  where  they 
are  sailing,  must  take  their  chance  like  other 
people.  So  that  after  all  we  may  have  sailed  in 
a  circle,  and  I  may  be  quite  near  to  Molokai,  and 
this  may  be  the  very  beach  where  my  father-in- 
law  gathers  his  dollars." 

So  after  that  he  was  prudent,  and  kept  to  the 
land  side. 

It  was  perhaps  a  month  later,  when  the  people 
of  the  place  arrived — the  fill  of  six  great  boats. 
They  were  a  fine  race  of  men,  and  spoke  a  tongue 
that  sounded  very  different  from  the  tongue  of 
Hawaii,  but  so  man}^  of  the  words  were  the  same 
that  it  was  not  difiicult  to  understand.  The  men 
besides  were  very  courteous,  and  the  women  very 
towardly ;  and  they  made  Keola  welcome,  and 
built  him  a  house,  and  gave  him  a  wife  ;  and 
what  surprised  him  the  most,  he  was  never  sent 
to  work  with  the  young  men. 

And  now  Keola  had  three  periods.     First  he 


THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES  207 

had  a  period  of  being  very  sad,  and  then  he  had 
a  period  when  he  was  pretty  merry.  Last  of  all 
came  the  third,  when  he  was  the  most  terrified 
man  in  the  fom-  oceans. 

The  cause  of  the  first  period  was  the  girl  he 
had  to  wife.  He  was  in  doubt  about  the  island, 
and  he  might  have  been  in  doubt  about  the 
speech,  of  which  he  had  heard  so  little  when 
he  came  there  with  the  wizard  on  the  mat.  But 
about  his  wife  there  was  no  mistake  conceivable, 
for  she  was  the  same  girl  that  ran  from  him  cr}^- 
ing  in  the  wood.  So  he  had  sailed  all  this  way, 
and  might  as  well  have  stayed  in  Molokai ;  and 
had  left  home  and  wife  and  all  his  friends  for  no 
other  cause  but  to  escape  his  enemy,  and  the 
place  he  had  come  to  was  that  wizard's  hunting 
ground',  and  the  place  where  he  walked  invisible. 
It  was  at  this  period  when  he  kejot  the  most 
close  to  the  lagoon  side,  and  as  far  as  he  dared, 
abode  in  the  cover  of  his  hut. 

The  cause  of  the  second  period  was  talk  he 
heard  from  his  wife  and  the  chief  islanders. 
Keola  himself  said  little.  He  was  never  so  sure 
of  his  new  friends,  for  he  judged  they  were  too 
civil  to  be  wholesome,  and  since  he  had  grown 
better  acquainted  with  his  father-in-law  the 
man  had  grown  more  cautious.  So  he  told  them 
nothing   of    himseK,    but   only  his   name   and 


208  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

descent,  and  that  he  came  from  the  Eight 
Islands,  and  what  fine  islands  they  were  ;  and 
about  the  king's  palace  in  Honolulu,  and  how  he 
was  a  chief  friend  of  the  king  and  the  mission- 
aries. But  he  put  many  questions  and  learned 
much.  The  island  where  he  was  was  called  the 
Isle  of  Voices  ;  it  belonged  to  the  tribe,  but  they 
made  their  home  upon  another,  three  hour's  sail 
to  the  southward.  There  they  lived  and  had 
their  permanent  houses,  and  it  was  a  rich  island, 
where  were  eggs  and  chickens  and  pigs,  and  ships 
came  trading  with  rum  and  tobacco.  It  was 
there  the  schooner  had  gone  after  Keola  desert- 
ed ;  there,  too,  the  mate  had  died,  like  the  fool 
of  a  white  man  as  he  was.  It  seems,  when  the 
ship  came,  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  sickly  sea- 
son in  that  isle,  when  the  fish  of  the  lagoon  are 
poisonous,  and  all  who  eat  of  them  swell  up  and 
die.  The  mate  was  told  of  it ;  he  saw  the  boats 
preparing,  because  in  that  season  the  people  leave 
that  island  and  sail  to  the  Isle  of  Voices ;  but 
he  was  a  fool  of  a  Avhite  man,  wdio  would  believe 
no  stories  but  his  own,  and  he  caught  one  of 
these  fish,  cooked  it  and  ate  it,  and  swelled  up 
and  died,  which  was  good  news  to  Keola.  As 
for  the  Isle  of  Voices,  it  lay  solitary  the  most 
part  of  the  year ;  only  now  and  then  a  boat's 
crew  came  for  copra,  and  in  the  bad  season,  when 


THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES  209 

the  fish  at  the  main  isle  were  poisonous,  the  tribe 
dwelt  there  in  a  body.  It  had  its  name  from  a 
marvel,  for  it  seemed  the  seaside  of  it  was  all 
beset  with  invisible  devils  ;  day  and  night  you 
heard  them  talking  one  with  another  in  strange 
tongues ;  day  and  night  little  fires  blazed  up  and 
were  extinguished  on  the  beach ;  and  what  was 
the  cause  of  these  doings  no  man  might  conceive. 
Keola  asked  them  if  it  were  the  same  in  their 
own  island  where  they  stayed,  and  they  told  him 
no,  not  there  ;  nor  yet  in  any  other  of  some 
hundred  isles  that  lay  all  about  them  in  that 
sea  ;  but  it  was  a  thing  peculiar  to  the  Isle  of 
Voices.  They  told  him  also  that  these  fires  and 
voices  were  ever  on  the  seaside  and  in  the  sea- 
ward fringes  of  the  wood,  and  a  man  might  dwell 
by  the  lagoon  two  thousand  years  (if  he  could 
live  so  long)  and  never  be  any  way  troubled  ; 
and  even  on  the  seaside  the  devils  did  no  harm 
if  let  alone.  Only  once  a  chief  had  cast  a  spear 
at  one  of  the  voices,  and  the  same  night  he  fell 
out  of  a  cocoanut-palm  and  was  killed. 

Keola  thought  a  good  bit  with  himself.  He 
saw  he  would  be  all  right  when  the  tribe  re- 
turned to  the  main  island,  and  right  enough 
where  he  was,  if  he  kept  by  the  lagoon,  yet  he 
had  a  mind  to  make  things  righter  if  he  could. 
So  he  told  the  high  chief  he  had  once  been  in 


210  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

an  isle  tliat  was  pestered  the  same  way,  and  the 
folk  had  found  a  means  to  cure  that  trouble. 

"There  was  a  tree  growing  in  the  bush 
there,"  says  he,  "  and  it  seems  these  devils  came 
to  get  the  leaves  of  it.  So  the  people  of  the  isle 
cut  down  the  tree  wherever  it  was  found,  and 
the  devils  came  no  more." 

They  asked  what  kind  of  a  tree  this  was,  and 
he  showed  them  the  tree  of  which  Kalamake 
burned  the  leaves.  They  found  it  hard  to  be- 
lieve, yet  the  idea  tickled  them.  Night  after 
night  the  old  men  debated  it  in  their  councils, 
but  the  high  chief  (though  he  was  a  brave  man) 
was  afraid  of  the  matter,  and  reminded  them 
daily  of  the  chief  who  cast  a  spear  against  the 
voices  and  was  killed,  and  the  thought  of  that 
brought  all  to  a  stand  again. 

Though  he  could  not  yet  bring  about  the  de- 
struction of  the  trees,  Keola  was  well  enough 
pleased,  and  began  to  look  about  him  and  take 
pleasure  in  his  days  ;  and,  among  other  things, 
he  was  the  kinder  to  his  wife,  so  that  the  girl 
began  to  love  him  greatly.  One  day  he  came  to 
the  hut,  and  she  lay  on  the  ground  lamenting. 

"Why,"  said  Keola,  "what  is  wrong  with  you 
now?"' 

She  declared  it  was  nothing. 

The  same  night  she  woke   him.     The   lamp 


THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES  211 

burned  very  low,  but  he  saw  by  her  face  she  was 
in  sorrow. 

"Keola,"  she  said,  "put  your  ear  to  my 
mouth  that  I  may  whisper,  for  no  one  must 
hear  us.  Two  days  before  the  boats  begin  to 
be  got  read}^,  go  you  to  the  sea-side  of  the  isle 
and  lie  in  a  thicket.  We  shall  choose  that  place 
beforehand,  you  and  I ;  and  hide  food ;  and 
every  night  I  shall  come  near  by  there  singing. 
So  when  a  night  comes  and  you  do  not  hear 
me,  you  shall  know  we  are  clean  gone  out  of 
the  island,  and  you  may  come  forth  again  in 
safety." 

The  soul  of  Keola  died  within  him. 

"  What  is  this  ?  "  he  cried.  "  I  cannot  live 
among  devils.  I  will  not  be  left  behind  upon 
this  isle.     I  am  dying  to  leave  it." 

"You  will  never  leave  it  alive,  my  poor 
Keola,"  said  the  girl ;  "for  to  tell  you  the  truth, 
my  people  are  eaters  of  men  ;  but  this  they  keep 
secret.  And  the  reason  they  will  kill  jou  before 
we  leave  is  because  in  our  island  ships  come, 
and  Donat-Kimaran  comes  and  talks  for  the 
French,  and  there  is  a  white  trader  there  in  a 
house  with  a  veranda,  and  a  catechist.  Oh, 
that  is  a  fine  place  indeed  !  The  trader  has  bar- 
rels filled  with  fiour ;  and  a  French  warship 
once  came  in  the  lagoon  and   gave   everybody 


212  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

wine  and  biscuit.  Ah,  my  poor  Keola,  I  wish  I 
could  take  you  there,  for  great  is  my  love  to 
you,  and  it  is  the  finest  place  in  the  seas  except 
Papeete." 

So  now  Keola  was  the  most  terrified  man  in 
the  four  oceans.  He  had  heard  tell  of  eaters  of 
men  in  the  south  islands,  and  the  thing  had 
always  been  a  fear  to  him  ;  and  here  it  was 
knocking  at  his  door.  He  had  heard  besides, 
by  travellers,  of  their  practices,  and  how  when 
they  are  in  a  mind  to  eat  a  man,  they  cherish 
and  fondle  him  like  a  mother  with  a  favorite 
baby.  And  he  saw  this  must  be  his  own  case ; 
and  that  was  why  he  had  been  housed,  and  fed, 
and  wived,  and  liberated  from  all  work  ;  and  why 
the  old  men  and  the  chiefs  discoursed  with  him 
like  a  person  of  weight.  So  he  lay  on  his  bed 
and  railed  upon  his  destiny ;  and  the  flesh 
curdled  on  his  bones. 

The  next  day  the  people  of  the  tribe  were 
very  civil,  as  their  way  was.  They  were  elegant 
speakers,  and  they  made  beautiful  poetry,  and 
jested  at  meals,  so  that  a  missionary  must  have 
died  laughing.  It  was  little  enough  Keola  cared 
for  their  fine  Avays  ;  all  he  saw  was  the  white 
teeth  shining  in  their  mouths,  and  his  gorge  rose 
at  the  sight ;  and  when  the}^  were  done  eating, 
he  went  and  lay  in  the  bush  like  a  dead  man. 


THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES  213 

The  next  day  it  was  the  same,  and  then  his 
wife  followed  him. 

"  Keola,"  she  said,  "  if  you  do  not  eat,  I  tell 
you  plainly  you  will  be  killed  and  cooked  to- 
morrow. Some  of  the  old  chiefs  are  murmuring 
already.  They  think  you  are  fallen  sick  and 
must  lose  flesh." 

With  that  Keola  got  to  his  feet,  and  anger 
burned  in  him. 

"It  is  little  I  care  one  way  or  the  other," 
said  he.  "  I  am  between  the  devil  and  the 
deep  sea.  Since  die  I  must,  let  me  die  the 
quickest  way ;  and  since  I  must  be  eaten  at  the 
best  of  it,  let  me  rather  be  eaten  by  hobgoblins 
than  by  men.  Farewell,"  said  he,  and  he  left 
her  standing,  and  walked  to  the  sea-side  of  that 
island. 

It  was  all  bare  in  the  strong  sun ;  there  was 
no  sign  of  man,  only  the  beach  was  trodden, 
and  all  about  him  as  he  went,  the  voices  talked 
and  whispered,  and  the  little  fires  sprang  up 
and  burned  down.  All  tongues  of  the  earth 
were  spoken  there :  the  French,  the  Dutch,  the 
Eussian,  the  Tamil,  the  Chinese.  Whatever 
land  knew  sorcery,  there  were  some  of  its  peo- 
ple whispering  in  Keola's  ear.  That  beach  was 
thick  as  a  cried  fair,  yet  no  man  seen  ;  and  as 
he  walked  he  saw  the  shells  vanish  before  him, 


214  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

and  no  man  to  pick  tliem  up.  I  think  the  devil 
would  have  been  afraid  to  be  alone  in  such  a 
company  ;  but  Keola  was  past  fear  and  courted 
death.  When  the  fires  sprang  up,  he  charged 
for  them  like  a  bull.  Bodiless  voices  called  to 
and  fro  ;  unseen  hands  poured  sand  upon  the 
flames ;  and  they  were  gone  from  the  beach  be- 
fore he  reached  them. 

"It  is  plain  Kalamake  is  not  here,"  he 
thought,  "as  I  must  have  been  killed  long 
since." 

With  that  he  sat  him  down  in  the  margin  of 
the  wood,  for  he  was  tired,  and  put  his  chin  upon 
his  hands.  The  business  before  his  eyes  con- 
tinued ;  the  beach  babbled  with  voices,  and  the 
fires  sprang  vq)  and  sank,  and  the  shells  vanished 
and  were  renewed  again  even  while  he  looked. 

"  It  was  a  by-day  when  I  was  here  before," 
he  thought,  "  for  it  was  nothing  to  this." 

And  his  head  was  dizzy  with  the  thought  of 
these  millions  and  millions  of  dollars,  and  all 
these  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  persons  culling 
them  upon  the  beach  and  flying  in  the  air 
higher  and  swifter  than  eagles. 

"  And  to  think  how  they  have  fooled  me  with 
their  talk  of  mints,"  says  he,  "and  that  money 
was  made  there,  when  it  is  clear  that  all  the 
new  coin  in  all  the  world  is  gathered  on  these 


'''■"        ^"^^^i^^--^' 


WHEN   THE   FIRES   SPRANG   UP,    HE   CHARGED   FOR   THEM 
LIKE  A  BULL." 


SE  LIB 


OF  THE 


^ 


UNIVERSITY 


THE  ISLE  OF    VOICES  215 

sands  !  But  I  will  know  better  the  next  time !  " 
said  he. 

And  at  last,  he  knew  not  very  well  how  or 
when,  sleep  fell  on  Keola,  and  he  forgot  the  isl- 
and and  all  his  sorrows. 

Early  the  next  day,  before  the  sun  was  yet 
up,  a  bustle  woke  him.  He  awoke  in  fear,  for 
he  thought  the  tribe  had  caught  him  napping  ; 
but  it  was  no  such  matter.  Only,  on  the  beach 
in  front  of  him,  the  bodiless  voices  called  and 
shouted  one  upon  another,  and  it  seemed  they 
all  passed  and  swept  beside  him  up  the  coast  of 
the  island. 

"  What  is  afoot  now  ?  "  thinks  Keola.  And 
it  was  plain  to  him  it  was  something  beyond 
ordinary,  for  the  fires  were  not  lighted  nor  the 
shells  taken,  but  the  bodiless  voices  kept  post- 
ing up  the  beach,  and  hailing  and  dying  away  ; 
and  others  following,  and  by  the  sound  of  them 
these  wizards  should  be  angry. 

"It  is  not  me  they  are  angry  at/'  thought 
Keola,  "  for  they  pass  me  close." 

As  when  hounds  go  by,  or  horses  in  a  race, 
or  city  folk  coursing  to  a  fire,  and  all  men  join 
and  follow  after,  so  it  was  now  with  Keola ;  and 
he  knew  not  what  he  did,  nor  why  he  did  it,  but 
there,  lo  and  behold  I  he  was  running  with  the 
voices. 


216  THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES 

So  he  turned  one  point  of  the  island,  and  this 
brought  him  in  view  of  a  second  ;  and  there  he 
remembered  the  wizard  trees  to  have  been  grow- 
ing by  the  score  together  in  a  wood.  From  this 
point  there  went  up  a  hubbub  of  men  crying  not 
to  be  described ;  and  by  the  sound  of  them,  those 
that  he  ran  with  shaped  their  course  for  the 
same  quarter.  A  little  nearer,  and  there  began 
to  mingle  with  the  outcry  the  crash  of  many 
axes.  And  at  this  a  thought  came  at  last  into 
his  mind  that  the  high  chief  had  consented  ; 
that  the  men  of  the  tribe  had  set-to  cutting 
down  these  trees ;  that  word  had  gone  about 
the  isle  from  sorcerer  to  sorcerer,  and  these 
were  all  now  assembling  to  defend  their  trees. 
Desire  of  strange  things  swept  him  on.  He 
posted  with  the  voices,  crossed  the  beach,  and 
came  into  the  borders  of  the  wood,  and  stood 
astonished.  One  tree  had  fallen,  others  were 
part  hewed  away.  There  was  the  tribe  clus- 
tered. They  were  back  to  back,  and  bodies  lay, 
and  blood  flowed  among  their  feet.  The  hue  of 
fear  was  on  all  their  faces ;  their  voices  went 
up  to  heaven  shrill  as  a  weasel's  cry. 

Have  you  seen  a  child  when  he  is  all  alone 
and  has  a  wooden  sword,  and  fights,  leaping  and 
hewing  with  the  empty  air  ?  Even  so  the  man- 
eaters   huddled  back   to  back,  and   heaved  up 


THE  ISLE  OF   VOICES  217 

their  axes,  and  laid  on,  and  screamed  as  they 
laid  on,  and  behold!  no  man  to  contend  with 
them !  only  here  and  there  Keola  saw  an  axe 
swinging  over  against  them  without  hands  ;  and 
time  and  again  a  man  of  the  tribe  would  fall  be- 
fore it,  clove  in  twain  or  burst  asunder,  and  his 
soul  sped  howling. 

For  awhile  Keola  looked  upon  this  prodigy 
like  one  that  dreams,  and  then  fear  took  him  by 
the  midst  as  sharp  as  death,  that  he  should  be- 
hold such  doings.  Even  in  that  same  flash  the 
high  chief  of  the  clan  espied  him  standing,  and 
pointed  and  called  out  his  name.  Thereat  the 
whole  tribe  saw  him  also,  and  their  eyes  flashed, 
and  their  teeth  clashed. 

"  I  am  too  long  here,"  thought  Keola,  and  ran 
farther  out  of  the  wood  and  down  the  beach, 
not  caring  whither. 

"  Keola !  "  said  a  voice  close  by  upon  the 
empty  sand. 

"  Lehua  !  is  that  you !  "  he  cried,  and  gasped, 
and  looked  in  vain  for  her  ;  but  by  the  eyesight 
he  was  stark  alone. 

"  I  saw  you  pass  before,"  the  voice  answered  ; 
"  but  you  would  not  hear  me.  Quick  !  get  the 
leaves  and  the  herbs,  and  let  us  free." 

*'  You  are  there  with  the  mat  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Here,  at  your  side,"  said  she.     And  he  felt 


218  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

lier  arms  about  him.  "  Quick  !  the  leaves  and 
the  herbs,  before  my  father  can  get  back !  " 

So  Keola  ran  for  his  life,  and  fetched  the 
wizard  fuel ;  and  Lehua  guided  him  back,  and 
set  his  feet  upon  the  mat,  and  made  the  fire.  All 
the  time  of  its  burning,  the  sound  of  the  battle 
towered  out  of  the  wood ;  the  wizards  and  the 
man-eaters  hard  at  fight ;  the  wizards,  the  view- 
less ones,  roaring  out  aloud  like  bulls  upon  a 
mountain,  and  the  men  of  the  tribe  replying 
shrill  and  savage  out  of  the  terror  of  their  souls. 
And  all  the  time  of  the  burning,  Keola  stood 
there  and  listened,  and  shook,  and  watched  how 
the  unseen  hands  of  Lehua  poured  the  leaves. 
She  poured  them  fast,  and  the  flame  burned  high, 
and  scorched  Keola's  hands ;  and  she  speeded 
and  blew  the  burning  with  her  breath.  The  last 
leaf  was  eaten,  the  flame  fell,  and  the  shock  fol- 
lowed, and  there  were  Keola  and  Lehua  in  the 
room  at  home. 

Now,  when  Keola  could  see  his  wife  at  last 
he  was  mighty  pleased,  and  he  was  mighty 
pleased  to  be  home  again  in  Molokai  and  sit 
down  beside  a  bowl  of  poi — for  they  make  no 
poi  on  board  ships,  and  there  was  none  in  the 
Isle  of  Voices — and  he  was  out  of  the  body  with 
pleasure  to  be  clean  escaped  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  eaters  of  men.    But  there  was  another  matter 


P3 
O 


/ 


TH^  ISLE  OF   VOICES  219 

not  so  clear,  and  Leliua  and  Keola  talked  of  it  all 
niglit  and  were  troubled.  There  was  Kalamake 
left  upon  the  isle.  If,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
he  could  but  stick  there,  all  were  well ;  but  should 
he  escape  and  return  to  Molokai,  it  would  be  an 
ill  day  for  his  daughter  and  her  husband.  They 
spoke  of  his  gift  of  swelling,  and  whether  he 
could  wade  that  distance  in  the  seas.  But  Keola 
knew  by  this  time  where  that  island  was — and 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  Low  or  Dangerous  Archi- 
pelago. So  they  fetched  the  atlas  and  looked 
upon  the  distance  in  the  map,  and  by  what  they 
could  make  of  it,  it  seemed  a  far  way  for  an  old 
gentleman  to  walk.  Still,  it  would  not  do  to 
make  too  sure  of  a  warlock  like  Kalamake,  and 
they  determined  at  last  to  take  counsel  of  a 
white  missionary. 

So  the  first  one  that  came  by  Keola  told  him 
everything.  And  the  missionary  was  very  sharp 
on  him  for  taking  the  second  wife  in  the  low 
island ;  but  for  all  the  rest,  he  vowed  he  could 
make  neither  head  nor  tail  of  it. 

"  However,"  says  he,  '^  if  you  think  this  money 
of  your  father's  ill  gotten,  my  advice  to  you 
would  be  give  some  of  it  to  the  lepers  and 
some  to  the  missionary  fund.  And  as  for  this 
extraordinary  rigmarole,  you  cannot  do  better 
than  keep  it  to  yourselves." 


220  THE  ISLE  OF  VOICES 

But  he  warned  the  police  at  Honohihi  that, 
by  all  he  could  make  out,  Kalamake  and  Keola 
had  been  coining  false  money,  and  it  would  not 
be  amiss  to  watch  them. 

Keola  and  Leliua  took  his  advice,  and  gave 
many  dollars  to  the  lepers  and  the  fund.  And 
no  doubt  the  advice  must  have  been  good,  for 
from  that  day  to  this,  Kalamake  has  never  more 
been  heard  of.  But  whether  he  was  slain  in  the 
battle  by  the  trees,  or  whether  he  is  still  kick- 
ing liis  heels  upon  the  Isle  of  Voices,  who  shall 
say? 


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